The economics editor at Reuters’ Breakingviews says Bitcoin can’t thrive without governments:
The developers of bitcoin are trying to show that money can be successfully privatized. They will fail, because money that is not issued by governments is always doomed to failure. Money is inevitably a tool of the state.
I think the problems that will eventually destroy Bitcoin are security, money laundering and that transaction costs end up being higher than with real money but I don’t think betting against Bitcoin is the trade. I see it hitting $10,000 before it hits zero. A classic characteristic of a bull market is disbelief and that’s what this article shows.
