When I got into Bitcoin in 2013, this was the true new wild west so to speak. So what happend in the last 5-6 years?
It got more popular. Prices increased.
As the money in anything grows, it becomes more visible and more of a concern to governments and regulatory authorities. If a thing is small in dollar terms, then it is inconsequential to a government, and is ignored. When it gets bigger, and particularly when it impacts other people and other businesses, then the authorities step in. Crypto has a lot of rock-solid use-cases. It will continue to get bigger, continue to move towards the mainstream, and continue on the path to regulation and integration into 'normal' society.
Crypto becoming bigger than anyone have thought is the reason why government is calling it a "threat" to their standardized set of terms financially. We have seen economists calling it a bubble, and government tend to ban it. But now? I see establishments and businesses growing with cryptocurrency, they are having a wide variety of payment options which people most love when buying, and the best is that government is considering it now to be an alternative for fiat currency and is having the idea of Digital Central Bank Currency.If I have a couple of chickens in my garden and set up a stall in front of my house selling 6 eggs a week for $1, then the government couldn't care less that I'm making $1 profit and paying zero tax on it. If I scale up and have 10,000 chickens, build a shop in front of my house and start employing staff to sell the eggs, then the authorities take an interest. Same with anything.
Pretty clever analogy, it only means that government is only looking with the same level as their eyes, they are not looking down and taking crap.