Is this actually illegal? And if so, how would a court proceeding look like? I am pretty sure especially in the US, if you have money for a good lawyer, you can wiggle yourself out of this one pretty easily. Just imagining the jury overseeing this... Who is even the defendant? And what is the crime?

I imagine if such a case ever goes to court its going to be very interesting, because for the government, this should be like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Acknowledging this as "theft" kindof undermines their agenda to kill off alternative currency.

There is also another dimension to it. "Double spending" conceptually seems very similar to the government printing money, devaluing the dollar.