Interesting article indeed.
I see that e-gold peaked at $85 million, roughly where bitcoins are now. I wonder if that's some kind of cut off point where the authorities start freaking and taking whatever action they need to spoil the party.
E-Gold was a centralized currency run by scammers. Over three years I dealt with them, there were numerous reports of accounts being hacked and all the money stolen. Many suspected it was the owners.