It is very difficult to predict the long term future, as for freedom, BTC is obviously a currency that is free of direct government control, and it is going to always be that way. However, government regulation is increasing rapidly and there is an obvious attack against privacy solutions, the government wants to know what you do with your BTC's and how and where you spend it, so i expect regulations to get worst in the future and i notice people do not care, even with etf's and all, they just want BTC price to pump without minding how far government interference gets.