Bitcoin, a digital currency, was created in 2009. This new form of money is called cryptocurrency. It is scarce and exists independently of the world’s governments. It is heralded as a technological wave, and many U.S. financial regulators have voiced their opinion of banning bitcoin. To clarify, we have discussed different bitcoin news about its ban in the U.S.
U.S. Lawmakers Understand Banning Bitcoin Won’t Be Easy
One of the ideas behind banning bitcoin is it threatens real money. Many people still don’t understand what bitcoin is, how it is created through blockchain, how it is stored, and its use. The ignorance has led to the opposition of bitcoin by longtime critics of cryptocurrency.
According to economist JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Nouriel Roubini, implementing a bitcoin ban is not easy. Bitcoin was built as digital money that won’t be affected by the desire of politicians and regulators around the world. Lately, lawmakers in the United States have started realizing it would be indeed tough to implement a ban on bitcoin. They also question the effectiveness of such a ban, even if it is enacted.
Bitcoin Ban May Not Come up in Congressional Hearings
A bitcoin news on a leading newspaper said the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held a hearing on blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. During the hearing, the Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo shared his belief that the U.S. would not be successful in banning bitcoin.
He further said the U.S. should not go ahead and ban bitcoin as it is a global innovation. There are several difficulties in banning bitcoin. The only effective way to kill this cryptocurrency is to make governments more competitive in terms of financial freedom and monetary policies. Abra CEO also pointed out that it would be difficult for the U.S. to ban bitcoin legally.
Banning Bitcoin Would Harder Than Banning Gold
In 1933, President Roosevelt signed an executive order “forbidding the Hoarding of gold bullion, gold coins, and gold certificates” within the United States. According to financial experts, it would be difficult for the President to ban bitcoin in the same way. There are several reasons such a ban will not work.
Bitcoin Is Different Than Gold
When President Roosevelt enacted the gold ban, he ordered companies to hand over their gold reserves to the Federal government and get equivalent currency. People were forced to hand over the gold as the precious metal held no value without the government’s backing. If they did not part with their gold, they would not be able to exchange gold for its currency equivalent.
The bitcoin is run by a network of computers called miners located across the world. Thus the bitcoin lies out of the reach of the U.S. government to a certain extent. Users can also hold bitcoin themselves offline, which makes tracking of digital assets difficult.
Most bitcoin transactions are anonymous and contain only a string of characters. Though the number of U.S. exchanges requires customer verification for bitcoin purchasing, such a requirement is not there in person-to-person exchanges, which adds to tracking difficulty.
Thus, although a few sections in the Federal Government want bitcoin to be banned, we don’t see that happening shortly.
Author: Delaney Reed
