The Coinbase de minimis tax exemption fight isn't about reducing friction for coffee purchases—it's about preventing Bitcoin from becoming actual currency. Every $200 transaction threshold forces users back through the traditional banking layer for tax compliance, ensuring Bitcoin remains a tracked investment rather than evolving into sovereign money. This maps perfectly to the BlackRock staked ETH launch timing. Wall Street isn't just financializing crypto—they're creating the infrastructure to make direct peer-to-peer transactions economically punitive compared to custodial products. The regulatory capture isn't happening through bans, it's happening through compliance costs that make self-custody impractical for daily use. The real test isn't whether Bitcoin reaches six figures. It's whether anyone will still be able to spend it directly when it does.