I don't understand the gnashing of teeth around solving this with a soft fork then hard fork. Is that not just as built into the overall system as any flaw is built into a smart contract?
The code decides. But the community decides on the code.
Imagine a hypothetical anonymous coin that completely won over the narcotics trade. It achieved all its goals such that no government could trace it or freeze assets. But one day a supplier accrued a huge mass of coins by selling rat poison. Why shouldn't even fervent believers in the system ignore protests of "tyranny! the Fed!" if the overall narcocoin community forked his coins to worthlessness?
The code decides. But the community decides on the code.
Imagine a hypothetical anonymous coin that completely won over the narcotics trade. It achieved all its goals such that no government could trace it or freeze assets. But one day a supplier accrued a huge mass of coins by selling rat poison. Why shouldn't even fervent believers in the system ignore protests of "tyranny! the Fed!" if the overall narcocoin community forked his coins to worthlessness?