Shutting down Bitcoin because of illegal drug trade is like banning cryptography because of terrorism: It is not solving the problem and it is not a valid reason for stopping innovation.
Yet, it did not stop them from trying _really hard_, for example, with the Clipper chip and export restrictions on software that used crypto. Even now, foreigners who come to the US to work or study face extra scrutiny (whatever that means) if they work in crypto.
