>I wonder if the different treatment is due to Bitcoin coming of age in the Obama era instead of the GWB era like those other examples? >is it even technically

>I wonder if the different treatment is due to Bitcoin coming of age in the Obama era instead of the GWB era like those other examples? >is it even technically possible for them to shut down Bitcoin if they wanted to? You've almost answered your own question there. It's not more difficult to shut down due to a change in government behavior, it's difficult to shut down because it's highly decentralized, unlike earlier digital currencies