Earlier this year, Rep. Steve Stockmen (R-Texas) became the first politician to accept Bitcoins as contributions for a federal campaign. That’s why it’s not a surprise the Rep. Stockman is looking to pass a bill that will allow Bitcoins to be treated as a currency.
A major issue is that The Federal Elections Commission hasn’t established any rules or regulations for the cryptocurrency.
Rep. Stockman told MintPress News that the reason why he introduced the bill was to “to build awareness and create a consensus in the Bitcoin community around government regulation of virtual currencies. “
“I don’t think anyone really has a flavor of what they want and I want to start the Bitcoin conversations,” he said.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is against the bill because it can be used to “conceal illegal activities.” Because there are no regulations put in place, Holder believes that it would be easy to convert fiat or real currency to a virtual currency, use it for illicit means and then reconvert the Bitcoin back to real currency without leaving a money trail, or report any taxes.
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