I don't see how regulations and laws are going to stop greedy bastards.

Bitcoin might make the fight against the usual currencies even more unwinnable -- cool Juris Doctor graduation paper I saw linked the other day .... suggesting the IMF should get a bitcoin war chest or else - worst case, they may not be able to defend their currencies against bitcoin...

Hilariously fun to read. Take with a grain of salt, because I estimate the odds against the scenario it describes at beyond 1000:1 -- but never tell me the odds! :)

http://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1407&context=cjil

"Regulating Digital Currencies: Bringing Bitcoin within the Reach of the IMF" by Nicholas A. Plassaras

Abstract (the OCR has a lot of typos)

This Comment examines the potentially destabiing effects of emerging digital currencies on the international foreign currengy exchange market. Spedficaly, it examines 'Bitcoin, "a decentralized, partially anonymous, and largely unregulated digital curreny that has become particularly popular in the last few years. This Comment argues that the International Monetagy Fund, the institution responsible for coordinating the stability offoreign exchange rates, is ill-equipped to handle the widespread use of digital currencies in the foreign curreng exchange market It highlights the inability of the Fund to intervene in the event of a speculative attack on a curreng by Bitcoin users. This Comment concludes by suggesting two interpretalions of the Fund's incorporating document, the Articles of Agreement, that would allow it to intervene in the event of such an attack.