"In fact, reports indicate that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is proposing an 80% tax on crypto gains."

It should be 100%, and it should be levied on transactions, not gains. No bitcoin, no ransomware. What's "absurd" about that?

Whatever value there is in the Ethereum network can be captured by the issue of securities independent of the currency. The currency can be a stablecoin tied to fiat. That's where crypto is headed, because decentralization is as bad an idea as pre-Fed "free banking." The Fed is a SOLUTION, not a problem.

Kids who know more about tech than money think otherwise, but they are importing medieval monetary technology into modern transfer technology. The obsolete monetary structure will cause the system to fail.

Meanwhile, feel free to profit from the hacker's drug of choice. I'll stick to productive investments, while there still are any.