>I think one big reason is that regulators don't want the US to miss out on a large wave of value creation.
There is no value created, it is just redistributed through rent-seeking. The US might hope that the redistribution goes in its favor if, as you say, more early adopters are in US rather than abroad.
The global effect of rent-seeking is that money gets pulled out of productive enterprises and into non-producing assets, lowering GDP.
Whether or not the easy access to money laundering channels makes up for the lost GDP or makes it worse, I am curious to see.
There is no value created, it is just redistributed through rent-seeking. The US might hope that the redistribution goes in its favor if, as you say, more early adopters are in US rather than abroad.
The global effect of rent-seeking is that money gets pulled out of productive enterprises and into non-producing assets, lowering GDP.
Whether or not the easy access to money laundering channels makes up for the lost GDP or makes it worse, I am curious to see.