Currently in my country the government has not issued specific regulations for electronic money, some MPs have proposed the legitimization of Bitcoin but the head of state can not accept. However, the country's economic administrators are gradually establishing legal institutions for Bitcoin to legalize Bitcoin in the near future.
I think it is better to do it when the usage is not that widespread yet so that they can properly implement the necessary measures. Even if cryptocurrency was created to let go of the control of the people who are in power, we cannot still do that because we are still depending on them for the mass adoption since many people still believe that a currency would only be valuable if it is regulated. This is the reason why many are waiting for ETF because it would make some institutions be able to invest on it.
Basically, cryptocurrency regulation is good for crypto investors in the sense that they may be safe with the ICOs they're into but for some, it can be bad because there will be limitation already of crypto use. Tax on your earnings from cryptos, for example, will be mandatory and thus taking a slice of your total earnings no matter how small it is.
Just think of the tax as a contribution for your country so that they can implement the projects properly because they have the budget. As for the ICOs, regulation is needed because many people would just easily implement an ICO just for the sake of raising money and run away with it. They are lax with it because they know that they can get away with it but if there is regulation then they cannot just easily implement it.