Bitcoin has exploded back into the lime light this year following its 2022 price crash (though former president Donald Trump and president Joe Biden could be about to blow up the market).
The bitcoin price has this week dived lower, crashing toward $60,000 per bitcoin after topping $70,000 earlier this month, with fears emerging a “true correction” has already begun.
Now, as Trump warns the U.S. dollar could lose its position as the world’s reserve currency, U.S. representative Matt Gaetz, a Republican from Florida, has introduced what he described as a “groundbreaking” bill that would allow federal income taxes to be paid in bitcoin.
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Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) introduced the bitcoin bill to Congress.
“This is a bold step toward a future where digital currencies play a vital role in our financial system, ensuring that the U.S. remains at the forefront of technological advancement,” Gaetz said in a statement, adding it would “promote innovation, increase efficiency, and offer more flexibility to American citizens.”
Gaetz’s statement recalls comments made recently by former U.S. president and 2024 White House hopeful Donald Trump, who has said he wants the U.S. to lead bitcoin development.
“I will end Joe Biden’s war on crypto,” Trump said at a recent rally in Wisconsin. “We will ensure that the future of crypto and the future of bitcoin will be made in America.”
Trump has leaned into bitcoin and crypto in recent weeks after making millions from a series of crypto-based digital trading card non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and putting him starkly at odds with the Biden administration’s anti-crypto stance. Trump declared support for crypto in late May and began accepting campaign donations in bitcoin, ethereum, solana, dogecoin and shiba inu.
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The bitcoin bill followed a bitcoin price crash that some feared could be about to get a lot worse.
In 2022, the state of Colorado began accepting crypto for tax payments while Utah, New Jersey and Kentucky have also made moves toward accepting bitcoin.
U.S. lawmakers have made some progress with crypto bills this year after failing to find common ground on a number of bills over the last few years.
In May, the House passed the Republican-led Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, known as Fit21, that carves up responsibility for crypto markets between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), though it not expected to become law this year.
