I think there are some parallels between the cryptocurrency shift and US internal frictions today. The government now is like a machine running without a master, and that's hurting its ability to respond to this development in more than a basic bureaucratic sense of getting tax money and arresting criminals. Stronger control would take a coordinated effort across several arms(propaganda, legislation, backdooring and attacks on the network, seizures). The capability is there in theory, but it's going to other perceived threats with more short-term political value.
On the other hand, if the tech hockey sticks in adoption, that's basically the end of the world order as we know it and the start of one where economic value skips around between different cryptocurrencies, never really staying in anyone's control. In effect a "marketplace for power consolidation".
It's not quite like the gold standard, because liquidity between cryptocurrencies is a software feature, not a physical constraint, and a perpetual stream of speculative ICOs discourages capital pooling. If you're poor in the dominant currency, you simply adopt the underdog to even the odds. Everyone will be writing themselves blank checks through chain forks, in effect encouraging a demurrage economy.