Around the world, Bitcoin is actually treated as different things. In China, the regulations are similar to those for in game items or in app purchases, but bitcoin is illegal in China (legal in HK). In the UK, there are many private or complementary currencies such as Stroud pound and Bristol pound. The idea is to encourage town level local economies, with currencies that are accepted only in that town. Cryptocurrencies are considered under the same category. In the US, private currencies are banned, but cryptocurrencies are considered private property, and attracts taxes the same as sales of land. Legal in Canada, but banks are banned from dealing with cryptocurrencies (this could be the case in India as well, according to some interpretations). In the EU, it is pretty complicated with multiple bodies regulating certain aspects of cryptocurrencies across EU, and individual countries having their own regulatory bodies as well. So depending on the mandate of each regulatory body, there are regulations covering those specific aspects about the cryptocurrencies. For example, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) looks into how cryptocurrencies interact with the insurance sector only. But by and large, cryptocurrencies an be considered unregulated in the EU. Some countries tax mining of BTC, in others, those dealing with BTC have to comply with anti money laundering norms. It is incredibly complicated. In Australia, Russia and India, they are considered virtual currencies, which by default implies that the currency is controlled by developers, is unregulated, and is used by members within a virtual community among themselves. India has banned it (although there are various interpretations about exactly what the ban means), Australia says it is none of their business what individuals do with cryptocurrencies, and Russia has banned it as it is also considered a surrogate currency which is illegal in Russia. So the regulations around the world are not really uniform, and every regulatory authority is finding it a challenge to keep up with the changing landscape. For example, there are few, if any regulations on non fungible tokens (in BTC, a single BTC is the same as any other BTC, and it can be broken up into smaller parts for transactions. NFTs are blockchain based assets that are individually unique, cannot be broken down into smaller parts, and are not the same value as another) and futures contracts (payment contracts embedded in the blockchain depending on certain conditions to be met in the future). One of the few countries to actually call it what it is is Bangladesh, where it is a crypto currency, and where it is banned. More info here.
Now cryptocurrencies are not bad by default. It is prudent to have a store of value that is not tied to the value of your country's currency. In case there is hyperinflation, your investment in something like bitcoin can tide you over. Many colleges and elearning courses across the world accept cryptocurrencies as payment.
