Bitcoin to become legal tender in the States?
Not too long ago, there was a (not too serious) push in Arizona to make Bitcoin legal tender in the state.
Now, senatorial candidate Bryan Solstin is also promising to make Bitcoin legal tender if he gets elected. The self-proclaimed “STEM and privacy advocate” from Washington state announced on his Twitter that he would make elevating Bitcoin to legal tender status his primary objective should he get elected:
“I declare my candidacy for US Senate. Making Bitcoin Legal Tender in the USA will be my primary objective on the Senate floor. Bitcoin is the Great Reset.”
Of course, such a proposal is highly unlikely to ever get implemented, as it would mean the de facto demotion of the dollar, something the American policy establishment would never agree to do. Still, Solstin is the first – and probably not the last – politician to try and leverage a pro-Bitcoin position into political gains.
What is the “Great Reset?”
The other interesting aspect of Solstin’s pledge was his mention of Bitcoin as “the great reset,” a nod to the infamous Great Reset propagated by the World Economic Forum and its founder and chairman Klaus Schwab. The WEF calls for an overhaul of the capitalistic system and societal structure in the face of generational challenges in energy supplies and climate change. Furthermore, the WEF pushes further digitalisation of the economy, including central bank digital currencies and online-ID schemes.
However, opponents see this Great Reset as a play by political and economic elites to consolidate power with technological means. Thanks to tools like mass surveillance and centralised databases of citizens, governments would be able to trace its citizens to a far greater degree than previously possible, the argument goes. Blockchain technology would be insofar useful as it would allow central banks greater control of monetary policy. Bitcoin and other private cryptocurrencies would be the enemy of such a development.
Whether true or not, Solstin likely knows of the animosity of crypto-affine folk to “improvements” promised by established power structures and cleverly tries to parlay those fears into electoral gains. Bitcoin itself is often seen as a tool to overcome ossified power structures, so promising legal tender status is an unrealistic but understandable electoral promise to signal affinity to blockchain technology.
Where Bitcoin could become legal tender next
Even though Bitcoin as legal tender in the US is unlikely to happen anytime soon, smaller nations with “less to lose” may be looking into positioning themselves as crypto havens. El Salvador was the first to roll the dice, and its president Nayib Bukele predicted that at least two other countries would follow its lead this year. Once global political instability recedes somewhat, that may well be the case. Don’t be surprised if a Caribbean island state announces bitcoinization soon.
