I have a differing opinion on Silk Road. I think it could actually benefit Bitcoin in some ways if Silk Road was gone because it would remove a lot of the negative image that Bitcoin has. To think that it would have some kind of crushing effect to the Bitcoin economy is ridiculous in my opinion. Even if Silk Road is the number one merchant site in the Bitcoin economy it's still a relatively small site.

Everyone knows Bitcoin's price is not supported by commerce, with or without Silk Road it makes no fundamental difference. What it is supported by is trust and belief. Investing and speculating. That is what the current Bitcoin price is mostly about and I really can't see how Silk Road gone would change things for the worse. Most Bitcoiners do not use Silk Road nor have they ever used it, it was a huge hype boost to the last bubble but newsflash: that bubble has burst already.

In fact as a starting Bitcoin enterpreneur and someone who believes that Bitcoin can make a difference in legal commerce I would definitely not mind if I had one less negative publicity issue to worry about when marketing Bitcoin.