(I should mention that I have barely any skin in the game, having sold almost all my BTC months ago.)
I knew it. You knew it. Now the world knows it: The CME and CBOE cash-settled (read: naked shorting, no BTC involved) futures markets on Bitcoin were set up to rig the price lower. Seems like it didn't work too well since the price is still right where it was six weeks before the ATH, double what it was eight months ago, 30% above where it was a year ago.
What I want to know is why they're fighting it. You have this thing that, left alone, will appreciate in value and give people a place to put their money where it will not only retain but increase its purchasing power. Why would you not want that to flourish? How terrible that millions of Bitcoiners have 10x the purchasing power a year from now! That would be just awful for the economy, right?
I mean, I thought these people were supposed to be smart, but they're complete idiots. If you want to save the economy and even save the banking system, you should encourage Bitcoin adoption. It's the one area where America holds a lead in the international economic realm, being the nation whose people hold the largest amount of Bitcoin. If you are acting in the best interests of Bitcoin, the last thing you should be doing is rigging the market to keep the price down. You should want your people to have more spending power. You should want your people to be rich.
The government is just stupid. That's all I can figure.