There are multiple exchanges all around the world that compete for the business of customers and innovating in a break-neck speed, none of which would even exist if there was government regulation. Bugs are fixed and problems are addressed faster than the average legislator can spell "malleability".
It would work even better if there was less regulation and investors could fund exchanges in the US without having to buy a bank, so that development could actually happen everywhere and not only in Japan and Slovenia.
Bitcoin "Banks" (read exchanges) exist only through their reputation. They can die within a few days as shown from MtGox. This is the way traditional banks should operate instead of being propped by tax payers so that they are allowed privatize gains and socialize losses.
But that goes hand In hand with allowing crooks to run banks, if regulation works so well there should not be any bad banks so no need for deposit insurance.
It was more to point out that with or without regulation there is still risk. Regulation is not the panacea that some people think it is and regulating bitcoin will not make it better, it will just make it more difficult for people to work with it in those areas it is regulated. Plus regulation would barely be worth the paper it was written on as avoiding it would be a simple case of not operating directly within its jurisdiction. If people from that jurisdiction use your service that is their option but the regulations will not protect them so they should make their own plans.
Regulation can work, however it should not absolve users of responsibility for vetting their investments or financial service providers.
Spoken like someone who has never been on the receiving end of someone dishonest. Lucky to be you.
The time between a bad actor starting to fleece people and the market or regulation wiping them out can still be fairly lucrative for the bad actor and fairly damaging for the public.
Even a "perfect" regulatory system can't preempt all potential issues, so one could also say that regulation only comes about due to the misfortune of others. For example, surely a bunch of people died from bad drugs before the FDA existed.
There are multiple exchanges all around the world that compete for the business of customers and innovating in a break-neck speed, none of which would even exist if there was government regulation. Bugs are fixed and problems are addressed faster than the average legislator can spell "malleability".
It would work even better if there was less regulation and investors could fund exchanges in the US without having to buy a bank, so that development could actually happen everywhere and not only in Japan and Slovenia.