Former United States Representative, Ron Paul, has recently opined that bitcoin should not be taxed or regulated, considering that it is a form of money.
In an interview with Kitco News, Paul, who is an ardent proponent of safe-haven assets, noted that it is important to recognize bitcoin as a legal tender not just as an asset that needs to be regulated.
He said,
“Right now, if you buy and sell gold, you get it taxed, they can do that. If you make a profit in Bitcoin, you read stories about people being taxed on it. You can’t tax money, you don’t tax it. If you bought a dollar a year ago and it went down 10%, you can’t take a loss because your dollar lost value.”
Paul, however, noted that it will be very difficult for the government to accept bitcoin as a legal form of money, as they would like to be in control.
According to Paul, bitcoin’s quality of anonymity, privacy, and decentralization make it an even greater threat to the centralization sought after by the government; adding that they will stop at nothing to restrict the wide adoption of bitcoin.
Therefore, Paul proposed that it will be best to allow the people to decide what is best for them, rather than allowing the government to constantly make that choice.
He said,
“I will argue more the case for the legalization of freedom of choice and the people should make a decision, not the government.”
The Dollar Will be Around But Not Worth Much
Paul added that even if bitcoin later becomes recognized as a form of money, it will not obliterate the dollar. He said that the dollar will still be around but its worth will be significantly reduced.
“I think the dollar is gonna be around but it’s not gonna be worth much.”
The issue of adopting bitcoin as an alternative currency to fiat is becoming extremely popular as many individuals and institutions now see it as a hedge against inflation.
Just a few days ago, billionaire investor Carl Icahn said that cryptocurrencies might be here to stay.
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