Thanks for sharing all of this @furious-one! I think that countries imposing regulations in general is actually a good thing, even if they are very harsh. Regulations signal mass adoption, which means short term they may be bad, but they work for the betterment of a stable market in the long run (mostly).
Regarding LTC, that is huge news for them! It's excellent to see them making waves at the moment.. I got in to it at around $45, and I'm holding out now.
Thanks again for sharing, I would love to talk to you more about a project I'm working to help Steemit and its new users grow hugely!