Bitcoin proponents are everywhere maneuvering to impose cryptocurrency as legal tender, like traditional centralized currencies. In California, a bill tabled in this direction could come up against the Constitution of the United States.
In El Salvador, Bitcoin has been legal tender since last year, alongside the US dollar. The objective of the small Central American country is to free itself from customs duties and taxes imposed on American currency. This launch, the first of its kind, gave ideas and especially desires to all crypto promoters in the world.
Highly unlikely
Bets often give Argentina, Panama and Paraguay as the next countries to adopt Bitcoin. But activists are also pushing in the United States, starting with California. Dennis Porter, a podcaster who describes himself as a “Bitcoiner”, as well as political adviser Ian C. Calderon (a former Democratic representative in the US State Assembly) invite all citizens to vote in favor of a proposal law that would make Bitcoin legal tender.
Together, @Dennis_Porter_ and I are working on a bi-partisan effort to legislatively explore #Bitcoin as legal tender in the State of California. More to come. https://t.co/FlcFHRr9B1
— Ian C. Calderon (@IanCalderon) February 20, 2022
The two crypto enthusiasts lament the current treatment of Bitcoin: subject to capital gains tax, so the asset cannot be used as a fiat medium of exchange. They explain that ” now more than ever », the Americans must have money protected against the inflation created by the monetary depreciation. For them, it is a invisible tax » imposed on their fellow citizens by a « council of unelected bankers “.
Bitcoin may be protected from the risks associated with inflation which, if it is too high, causes the Fed, the American Central Bank, to raise rates. Nevertheless, extreme variations in the price of Bitcoin are not necessarily desirable for consumers whose purchasing power needs a semblance of stability over time. This is also what the IMF reproached El Salvador…
Even with strong popular support, the bill has very little chance of passing. The US Federal Constitution prohibits a state from giving legal tender to anything other than gold or silver.
