Once bitcoins become widely accepted as a money, exchangers would matter far less because presumably bitcoins could be exchanged directly for more tangible goods and services. Therefore, in order for such a government plan to work, bitcoin owners would have to desire whatever governments are offering (fiat inflationary paper) over the goods and services (production of the free market) that have presumably made bitcoin acceptable as a money.
Ultimately, even if governments succeeded in destroying some of the bitcoins, the value of all remaining bitcoins would simply adjust by increasing in purchasing power. It really doesn’t matter how many bitcoins there are, so long as they remain divisible enough to allow for such adjustments.
Even after bitcoins can no longer be created, in a deflationary environment all bitcoins *equally *appropriate increased purchasing power. In an inflationary environment (i.e. USD), on the other hand, purchasing power is redistributed *from *all dollar holders *to *those first receiving the newly created dollars - generally government and government-connected institutions.
XC