This is actually VERY good news for bitcoin, in every possible way. Whether you like it or not, for BTC to be adopted mainstream.. this conversation with the government/regulators/lawmakers was unavoidable. Last year at this time BTC was on the fringe (kinda), now we're on the cusp of mainstream (kinda), and a year from now it will be mainstream (ish).If the average joe sees that the government has some kind of oversight or "consumer protection" (whatever the fuck that means), they'll be more inclined to take BTC seriously and jump on the bandwagon. All this mainstream attention from both congress and even the subpeaonas from NY state are GOOD publicity, and necessary. Notice the bitcoin price steadily rise all day? Woahhh, we're half way there..