Will governments capitulate and finally recognize Bitcoin as a legal tender?

[Poker Player]

After El Salvador regulated Bitcoin as legal tender, other countries are tempted to follow in its footsteps:

Brazil Set To Adopt Bitcoin As Its Legal Tender

Panama unveils bill to make Bitcoin legal tender

Ukraine could soon become the second country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender

Obviously these are countries that have seen an opportunity, but it is much more difficult for countries like the USA, EU countries, Australia, etc. to do so. So far Bitcoin has been regulated in most countries as (intangible) property. Consequently, it has also been taxed so that every time you spend Bitcoin you should declare and pay taxes. If you buy $1,000 of Bitcoin, the price goes up 10% and you buy a $5 coffee at Starbucks, you will owe taxes on 10% of that $5. If the next day the price of Bitcoin goes down and it is only 5% above your initial investment, when you make a purchase you will also owe taxes but only on 5%.

This, as I explained in another thread, makes it difficult for Bitcoin to be used as a day-to-day currency. In order to keep track of all transactions and pay taxes correctly you should rely on some App or some kind of software that keeps track of transactions and does the calculations for you. This means giving up your privacy and giving your purchase data to a centralized entity.

However, if Bitcoin is recognized as a legal tender, you will no longer have to pay taxes for buying coffees. In the same way that you don't have to pay taxes when you shop at the supermarket in dollars because the dollar has appreciated 2% against the euro in the last day.

I understand that the governments of the most economically powerful countries are going to be much more reticent than El Salvador and others who are seeing an opportunity.

On the one hand, if they make it legal to tender, they will lose money to be collected in direct taxes, and on the other hand they will lose at least part of the power they have with the massive printing of currency.

That is why I wonder if in the future, more and more countries will pass legislation that considers Bitcoin legal to tender and in the end the more economically powerful countries will have to capitulate and do the same.

What do you think?

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[Kong Hey Pakboy]

Superpower countries will be the hardest one to budge in, other countries wouldn't have that much problem so I am pretty sure that this is going to be a chain reaction that has the superpowers at the end of the domino line.

[nullama]

You can add Tonga to that list

source: https://stockhead.com.au/cryptocurrency/tonga-might-consider-bitcoin-as-legal-tender-if-laser-focused-mp-gets-his-way/

This is the key:

“To get those remittances to Tonga, Western Union takes a 30 per cent bite out of them, on average. It can be 50 per cent. In El Salvador, it’s closer to 50 per cent. So, our GDP in 2020 was $US510 million, 40 per cent of that is just over $US200 million so 30 per cent of that or $US60 million is fees alone to Western Union.”

Countries that are remittance-dependent, like El Salvador and Tonga, will probably be the first ones to make Bitcoin legal tender.

Other countries will probably want to keep their capital gains tax.

[Mugtaiya]

venenzuela should be next. their country needs to get out of the shit very quickly before their entire economy collapses.

[Kittygalore]

venenzuela should be next. their country needs to get out of the shit very quickly before their entire economy collapses.

It's not going to help them, they need a new leader that cares for them and at the same time helps the people and the country, not someone who's just a product of another bad government and someone who hires a secret organization to protect and destroy dissidents and oppositions.

[electronicash]

countries like brazil or panama will apply the same way how el salvador do that their local currency will work along with BTC.

for first world countries i think will also do the same but with CBDC coin. it may take another cycle before they will decide to also make BTC a legal tender. right now they will have to take advantage of printing more of their currency, its more favorable.

[hugeblack]

Why all the complications? It is easy to change the laws related to commodities, and if countries see that more people are buying bitcoin, they will start setting up separate law-projects related with cryptocurrency, but most of the time they will be considered assets of a special nature
For example:


 - any transfers less than $10,000 are not taxed.
 - If you own a certain value of cryptocurrencies, you must report it to the authorities.
 - All platforms that buy and sell bitcoins need to ask members for KYC.
 - Centralized platforms are set up and thus stores and shops are allowed to accept Bitcoin using these platforms.

Generally, things will not change unless the demand increases, which is directly related to the price, meaning that we need a market capacity of 5 trillion to see some changes.

[fiulpro]

If Bitcoins does become a Legal Tender, it would be amazing for all the crypto users in the world since there would be way more options, less tax, freedom to choose another payment method etc. It can finally be used not only as an investment but also as a currency, which can in turn expand the whole ecosystem..

It can finally become a one world currency. I do understand the Volatility might play a significant role but at the same time, people might have better access to international transactions and businesses are gonna flourish even more.

The probelm would be Government and Banks, taking it as a COMPETITION, whereas they should take it as a synergistic relationship, where both parties can grow.

I do think this would definitely happen in the future but it depends on the government for sure, how fluid they are with the whole thing. ( Till then countries like El Salvador, will definitely get a head start )

[avikz]

After El Salvador regulated Bitcoin as legal tender, other countries are tempted to follow in its footsteps:

A minor percentage of countries only! A dmall county like El-Salvador can't have heavy industries that can generate mass income and employment. So they had to rely on alternative things that help with their economy. So while bitcoin may be beneficial for El-Salvador, it may not yield same result in Brazil.

I still don't think majority of the government are serious enough regarding bitcoin. They are either ban it or strictly regulate it. Making bitcoin a legal tender is still a far fetched dream for majority of the governments.

[stompix]

You can add Tonga to that list
source: https://stockhead.com.au/cryptocurrency/tonga-might-consider-bitcoin-as-legal-tender-if-laser-focused-mp-gets-his-way/

This is the key:

“To get those remittances to Tonga, Western Union takes a 30 per cent bite out of them, on average. It can be 50 per cent. In El Salvador, it’s closer to 50 per cent. So, our GDP in 2020 was $US510 million, 40 per cent of that is just over $US200 million so 30 per cent of that or $US60 million is fees alone to Western Union.”

Again with these stupid numbers?
Here is an actual transfer from WU:



You pay exactly $4 to send $100, that's not 30% and not 40%.
If you would send $1000 the fee would drop to 0.7%.

[Silberman]

I understand that the governments of the most economically powerful countries are going to be much more reticent than El Salvador and others who are seeing an opportunity.

On the one hand, if they make it legal to tender, they will lose money to be collected in direct taxes, and on the other hand they will lose at least part of the power they have with the massive printing of currency.

That is why I wonder if in the future, more and more countries will pass legislation that considers Bitcoin legal to tender and in the end the more economically powerful countries will have to capitulate and do the same.

What do you think?

I could see it happening but I do not see those governments that are at the very top relinquishing that power without a fight, I really think that in order for that to happen we are going to have to see a massive crisis caused by their money printing policies all over the world, the massive adoption by the people in order to protect themselves from those effects, the banning of bitcoin in a weak attempt to protect their fiat currencies and finally the failure of those policies for them to finally understand that making bitcoin legal tender is the only choice they have left.

[Viscore]

After El Salvador regulated Bitcoin as legal tender, other countries are tempted to follow in its footsteps:

A minor percentage of countries only! A dmall county like El-Salvador can't have heavy industries that can generate mass income and employment. So they had to rely on alternative things that help with their economy. So while bitcoin may be beneficial for El-Salvador, it may not yield same result in Brazil.

I still don't think majority of the government are serious enough regarding bitcoin. They are either ban it or strictly regulate it. Making bitcoin a legal tender is still a far fetched dream for majority of the governments.

This makes sense to me. For now, i really believe that only few number of countries have been considering taking bitcoin as a legal tender and majority still chooses their own monetary system to be their medium of exchange. This is because most of the governments still prefer fiat because it can be controlled by them and since bitcoin is decentralized, they can't give their full support on it. And considering the central banks focus on fiat so they will keep on printing paper money as much as they can. Big countries may have less chances to recognize bitcoin as a legal tender because majority of the citizens still chose fiat not because they are used to it, but they really believe its for a lifetime use cases despite of the high inflation associated in it.

[dothebeats]

It will take some time before governments finally agree to it. A lot of research is still needed to be done before nations can allow bitcoin to be used as a legal tender. I'm all in for that idea but it's pretty hard to achieve. El Salvador, for sure, made a lot of rigorous research and sifted through a lot its own legal framework before they granted the cryptocurrency its current legal status.

Also, most countries still have a pretty stable currency of their own, that the need to introduce a new legal tender is not really necessary and may even be detrimental to those countries' economies.

[TimeTeller]

It will take some time before governments finally agree to it. A lot of research is still needed to be done before nations can allow bitcoin to be used as a legal tender. I'm all in for that idea but it's pretty hard to achieve. El Salvador, for sure, made a lot of rigorous research and sifted through a lot its own legal framework before they granted the cryptocurrency its current legal status.

Also, most countries still have a pretty stable currency of their own, that the need to introduce a new legal tender is not really necessary and may even be detrimental to those countries' economies.

Also, I think these countries which are looking at the possibility of making bitcoin as legal tender will assess the situation of El Salvador at least after 6 months of implementation.
They will evaluate if that move is beneficial to the growth of the economy or not. Or are there positive things accompanied by this bold move?
So yes, it will take time for them to decide on this matter. As they will also check the viability of this decision to their actual situation in their country.
Because they may have other considerations in their financial system. They of course, need long talks with their Central Bank and how to implement it.

[hatshepsut93]

Brazil Set To Adopt Bitcoin As Its Legal Tender

Panama unveils bill to make Bitcoin legal tender

Ukraine could soon become the second country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender

Ukraine is absolutely not looking at adopting it as legal tender, they recently adopted a law that would regulate cryptocurrency, and they specifically said that it can't be used as a payment method.

People here love to call out mainstream media for incorrectly covering Bitcoin, but Bitcoin media spin lies and misinformation all the time, usually just to create FUD or FOMO, whichever is more prelevant at the moment.

[hello_good_sir]

I doubt it.

They will likely fight bitcoin until the end which is rather sad, but I don't see fiat winning the battle with grassroots support on bitcoin's side.

The restrictions, KYC/AML and such are all a result of the current governmental pushback. I don't see an end in sight for these things.

[Finestream]

I doubt it.

They will likely fight bitcoin until the end which is rather sad, but I don't see fiat winning the battle with grassroots support on bitcoin's side.

The restrictions, KYC/AML and such are all a result of the current governmental pushback. I don't see an end in sight for these things.

The government will never allow for a decentralized coin to be a legal tender so bitcoin will really find it hard to be one. And if it may happen in the future, i think a lot of struggles will come along the way including the strict restrictions made by the government. This will only be stopped if there is a sudden change on the view of the government towards bitcoin. I know it will certainly happen if the adoption for bitcoin in such big countries will start to increase.

[Hydrogen]

This, as I explained in another thread, makes it difficult for Bitcoin to be used as a day-to-day currency. In order to keep track of all transactions and pay taxes correctly you should rely on some App or some kind of software that keeps track of transactions and does the calculations for you. This means giving up your privacy and giving your purchase data to a centralized entity.

Holding BTC as disposable income for remittance payment, rather than as an HODL investment. $1,000 in bitcoin could be exchanged for $1,000 in stablecoin to avoid price swings. Then exchanged for BTC again for payment.

Governments only "capitulate" to the informed, motivated and organized public. If people become uninformed and unorganized enough for governments to get away with oppressing them. That often occurs.

For many years legalizing gambling was a common theme for how to boost local economies. Then legalizing and taxing marijuana became the common theme. 2021 we don't hear many proposals for legalizing gambling or weed. Everyone only talks about legalizing cryptocurrencies. This is what real progress looks like, am I right.

[Mahanton]

Cant still be sure because not all government would really be having the same mindset,will,views and perception on things which means decision would really vary according on what they had pictured out.

Decisions made isnt something that easy for those who had adopted or recognized bitcoin just like on what El salvador did.If all governments will capitulate then we know on whats the positive impact
but this thing seems to be an impossible or wont really be happening at all.They do have different views and being decentralized is something an issue that they will mainly put into the table.

[Darker45]

It might just be a matter of time before another country will adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender. But, for me, countries don't have to actually give Bitcoin that status. I think it is enough that Bitcoin is legally accepted as an alternative currency which people and businesses have the freedom to use or not. As a legal tender, there is a connotation that business establishments are all required to accept it. Countries must have different set of rules and regulations pertaining to the legal tender status, of course, but to avoid complications it might be enough, at least for now, that Bitcoin is legally acknowledged as an alternative money. 

[Sithara007]

El Salvador made Bitcoin a legal tender and they are already reporting massive profits from the current spike. The purchase price was $45-$48K and now Bitcoin is trading at $54K. If the other countries include Bitcoin in their forex reserves, then they will also benefit from it. But they are still attached to the fiat system and don't want to move away from it. I don't understand the point in creating forex reserves with treasury bonds from other countries. That serves no purpose and in fact it is advantageous only for the country that issues these treasury bonds.

[swogerino]

I think this is difficult to achieve in really well developed countries like the US and Germany for example.I intentionally took these two countries as an example because the US has the Federal Reserve which has a lot of power over the government and also in Germany there is ECB-European Central Bank which has also a lot of power over the Europe block.It will be very difficult for these specific countries to recognize Bitcoin as a legal tender based on what I said above.The good thing though is less developed countries are trying or want to try and follow the El Salvador example which is a great example to follow.

[Nathrixxx]

After the El-Savador acceptance of Bitcoin as a legal tender, many countries have push a step forward toward the adoption by passing the legislative bill, i have a list of many countries who have taken such step with number of votes to predict the next El-Savador... Base on the highest votes it is predicted that Paraguay, Venezuela, Anguilla, Panama and India were the first five with highest votes on the proberbility of being the next to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender respectively.countries and regions that have passed legislation to enable cryptocurrency to be used as legal tender

Note that making Bitcoin a general acceptable legal tender by the whole word is a milestone journey on itself and has to a little vigorous challenges of ups and downs in a bid to eschew all forms of Cryptocurrency counter elements. But i can assure this can be achieved with time since the general populace of each country bids for the adoption and were involved actively in Cryptocurrency, in which adopted it will boost their economy, market cap, tax income, decrease poverty and promote independency,  you can imagine how the population of Cryptocurrency users increases each day.

[Lucius]

El Salvador has become an example that everyone refers to when it comes to accepting Bitcoin as a legal tender, but most forget that the country has not had its national currency for 20 years, and that it uses the US dollar as a replacement. To this fact it should be added that they have a president and a government that is for Bitcoin, so it was relatively easy for them to put their plan into action.

On the other hand, any other country that has its own currency would, by recognizing Bitcoin as a legal tender, in some way recognize that their own currency may not be good enough. Therefore, I see as potential candidates who will follow the example of El Salvador those countries that do not have their own national currencies, but only if it turns out that the thing works - of course all eyes are on El Salvador now.

You pay exactly $4 to send $100, that's not 30% and not 40%.
If you would send $1000 the fee would drop to 0.7%.

I don't know where those numbers come from, but most obviously think that the WU is a very expensive way to transfer money - but you've shown many times that it's not. I can't say which money transfer services are used by the average El Salvador citizen living and working in the US, but we can already see examples that show significant savings when using a Chivo wallet.

So far, 30 bitcoin ATMs to send remittances have been installed in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles and Bukele says around $2 million is being sent via Chivo daily.

Juan Moz, a construction worker who has lived in the United States since 2005, recently chose Chivo to send remittances home to his family — a decision he said saves him up to $18 when compared to traditional money transfer services.

[paxmao]

A bit of an aggressive language ... capitulate... we could even go further and say concede defeat or even surrender to the obvious

I think that bitcoin should be accepted by the governments as a way of payment, however it does not have the right characteristics to be the only currency of a country because is specifically designed to avoid flexibility in the monetary policies, which means that it does not allow you to play politics.

[ChiBitCTy]

Very interesting, I had not know that these other countries were considering adopting bitcoin as legal tender as well.  I am not sure that any of the major world players will be considering adopting bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies anytime soon however.  Especially countries like the United States who currently hold the worlds reserve currency.  Maybe one day though.

[palle11]

Superpower countries will be the hardest one to budge in, other countries wouldn't have that much problem so I am pretty sure that this is going to be a chain reaction that has the superpowers at the end of the domino line.

They are seating on the fence actually but I like that they are not making it transaction a ban for the users. It is just a moment of time for that legal status to happen because taxes are collected over the transaction so what else? IMO collection of taxes is a driver to making a legal status of it too, maybe it will take the masses to agitate over that. However there are bitcoin mechines all over the EU and USA , it is just as saying it has a legal backing already.

[fullhdpixel]

A bit of an aggressive language ... capitulate... we could even go further and say concede defeat or even surrender to the obvious

I think that bitcoin should be accepted by the governments as a way of payment, however it does not have the right characteristics to be the only currency of a country because is specifically designed to avoid flexibility in the monetary policies, which means that it does not allow you to play politics.

Governments will not "capitulate" of course, nor will concede defeat. However letting crypto become bigger and bigger would mean fiat will grow smaller and smaller which would result with fiat not being used as much which would weaken the governments. That is the type of situation we are in at El Salvador and in the long term El Salvador will turn to becoming fully crypto as well, of course optional but still if a nation is 90% crypto using and only 10% fiat then the fiat of that nation will suck.

If bigger nations do that as well then we are going to see governments have a lot less power. This is why it is sort of like "capitulate" when they recognize bitcoin as legal tender.

[verita1]

OP has mentioned something key like that the adoption of bitcoin in other countries with stronger economies will not happen the same as that of El Salvador.

But bitcoin adoption is very close. Brazil has one of the largest economies in South America. When these countries El Salvador, Brazil show all the progress they make after starting to use bitcoin, there will be other countries that will want to do the same.

[adzino]

El Salvador made Bitcoin a legal tender and they are already reporting massive profits from the current spike. The purchase price was $45-$48K and now Bitcoin is trading at $54K. If the other countries include Bitcoin in their forex reserves, then they will also benefit from it. But they are still attached to the fiat system and don't want to move away from it. I don't understand the point in creating forex reserves with treasury bonds from other countries. That serves no purpose and in fact it is advantageous only for the country that issues these treasury bonds.

El Salvador didn't make bitcoin a legal tender so that they can make quick gains from the rise. People should stop thinking that bitcoin is only made for making profit by investing in it. If people keeps on using bitcoin as a store of value, we will never see bitcoin being used as a mainstream currency. El Salvador did it because they don't have their own currency. They did it because they saw how easy it is to make cross border transactions with bitcoin. It will make it easier for people to send money back to the country cheap, fast and easily which in turn will help the counties economy to grow.

[cafucafucafu]

No, but I don't think it's necessary to progress the adoption of BTC forward.

Governments are going to be pretty draconian when it comes to BTC regulation because of the fact that it challenges their fiat system. So definitely don't expect any positive regulation any time soon.

But that's not really the end of the world. Legal tender is sort of this buzzword that is chucked around and means a lot less than what it sounds like.

[jaysabi]

...

After El Salvador regulated Bitcoin as legal tender, other countries are tempted to follow in its footsteps:
If you buy $1,000 of Bitcoin, the price goes up 10% and you buy a $5 coffee at Starbucks, you will owe taxes on 10% of that $5. If the next day the price of Bitcoin goes down and it is only 5% above your initial investment, when you make a purchase you will also owe taxes but only on 5%.

...

What do you think?

This makes perfect sense even though it's clunky as hell.  The American economy is denominated in US dollars.  If you make a profit on property or investments, you owe taxes on that no matter the medium your profit comes from.  It's the same for foreign currencies as well, if you make a profit trading in and out of them from US dollars, you owe taxes on those gains.  Obviously for people who want to use bitcoin as a currency that presents a bookkeeping headache, but then again people who actually want to use bitcoin as a currency and not a vehicle to speculate are the vast minority so it doesn't matter much in the big picture.

[Poker Player]

A bit of an aggressive language ... capitulate... we could even go further and say concede defeat or even surrender to the obvious

Oh, but do you think that governments have received Bitcoin in a, let's say, friendly way? The initial reaction from governments was aggressive, and not only from governments, but from central banks and other financial entities linked to governments and their currency creation system.

Leaving aside the governments that have banned cryptocurrencies, the initial reaction of governments when they said anything about Bitcoin it was to warn of the risk of fraud, scam, in short of losing their money that those who invested in it could run.

There has already been a first capitulation (yes, capitulation, which although a bit aggressive is quite descriptive of reality) to the extent that governments have passed regulations that consider bitcoin as property or a financial asset.

Why do you think Satoshi disappeared? Try creating a new currency by showing your face and let me know if governments treat you in a friendly way. The ability to create currency is reserved by the states for themselves and the entities they designate as central banks (supposedly independent, lol) and creating a currency without the permission of the state is severely punishable.

[LUCKMCFLY]

What I think of the governments that oppose BTC in the first instance is that they are looking for prominence to show that BTC is not the way out, although for many it is the only way out, and sometimes they do a whole "theater" for the end accept the reality, and the reality is that the whole world will have a digitized economy at least 90%, the other 10% can be left as a tolerance range for those countries in resistance that always give something to talk about.

And what moves the world is money, and everyone likes money, it is a lie those who say they are in governments or banks who love their work, but you will not work very hard sacrificing many things that you like to do without payment, and how to all governments and everyone like money and above all to have it, how can they refuse money? that is a fundamental principle.

[redsun114]

It’s just a matter of time before a lot of countries will adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. As more and more of them continues to do this, they will be motivating others to also take this same step. Then I don’t really think it is necessary for every country to make it a legal tender, it can just be another legal asset that anyone can invest in and also be used for transactions, simple.

Before that, now cryptocurrency is already legal in so many countries, so it is not really all of them that are going to consider it as a legal tender. It can just remain as an asset that people can freely be making use of in their country.

[tulusikhlas]

There is always an opposition against adopting Bitcoin in every country. As is the case in El Salvador not all accept Bitcoin but all have alternatives to using other available finance. I'm not sure for all countries really recognize decentralization that they don't fully control the rate of transactions. Because if they finally admit it, then at least there must be a tax that the government should get from it.

[dimonstration]

There is always an opposition against adopting Bitcoin in every country. As is the case in El Salvador not all accept Bitcoin but all have alternatives to using other available finance. I'm not sure for all countries really recognize decentralization that they don't fully control the rate of transactions. Because if they finally admit it, then at least there must be a tax that the government should get from it.

Only those who will able to provide system in crypto wherein they can put tax in every transaction as well monitor every transaction will make crypto legal, though it will still seems impossible as crypto is made to be decentralized and unknown in terms of making transactions which make it unique from the government the reason why it will be hard for the government to acknowledge it as legal. It is still questionable sometimes in banks when you about to cash out money or when your account got unusual amount of money that they questioned or investigate the transactions since they still unfamiliar yet on crypto or it was just here in my country.

[jaysabi]

It’s just a matter of time before a lot of countries will adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. As more and more of them continues to do this, they will be motivating others to also take this same step. Then I don’t really think it is necessary for every country to make it a legal tender, it can just be another legal asset that anyone can invest in and also be used for transactions, simple.

Before that, now cryptocurrency is already legal in so many countries, so it is not really all of them that are going to consider it as a legal tender. It can just remain as an asset that people can freely be making use of in their country.

Really it's only the developing nations with weak national currencies and troubled economies that are considering this.  There are no first world countries with a strong economy and a strong currency that are entertaining bitcoin as a viable national currency.  An optimist would call this "innovative" while a pessimist would call it "gimmicky."  I'm closer to the latter group, because at the end of the day, bitcoin won't solve these nation's economic woes, and it's not going to prove to be a very useful currency if it can't hold a steady value (unless that country is experiencing hyperinflation).

[Argoo]

The legalization of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies should not be confused, that is, the determination of its official status and the establishment of rules for walking in the state along with the national currency, which continues to occur in a number of countries, and the adoption of bitcoin as a national means of payment, which happened in El Salvador. States can recognize bitcoin as a means of payment, however, this is unlikely to be the national currency. The state, and especially its economy, functions on completely different principles.

[TheEconomists]

With many government of the world will accept Bitcoin and other crypto currency as a legal tender but before then government will to regulate it's operation and other activities. If the happen issue of anonymity will no longer exist because government will have to know each every account owners to enable them the compliance for tax payment.

[Similificator]

Since 2016, I have already been telling my peers that bitcoin being adopted in a worldwide scale happening is not a matter of if but matter of when. The inevitable will happen, while several minds will always have different motives and reasons, all will lead to a common outcome because bitcoin acts as a brige that connects their goals. The only problem is that there will always be people who would love to take advantage of anything they can and I am pretty sure that people in power or with great influence (mostly) will take advantage. I just hope that it won't be any more unreasonable as how it is today.

[Silberman]

This, as I explained in another thread, makes it difficult for Bitcoin to be used as a day-to-day currency. In order to keep track of all transactions and pay taxes correctly you should rely on some App or some kind of software that keeps track of transactions and does the calculations for you. This means giving up your privacy and giving your purchase data to a centralized entity.

Holding BTC as disposable income for remittance payment, rather than as an HODL investment. $1,000 in bitcoin could be exchanged for $1,000 in stablecoin to avoid price swings. Then exchanged for BTC again for payment.

Governments only "capitulate" to the informed, motivated and organized public. If people become uninformed and unorganized enough for governments to get away with oppressing them. That often occurs.

For many years legalizing gambling was a common theme for how to boost local economies. Then legalizing and taxing marijuana became the common theme. 2021 we don't hear many proposals for legalizing gambling or weed. Everyone only talks about legalizing cryptocurrencies. This is what real progress looks like, am I right.

And even then it could be a false capitulation, this happened in Zimbabwe, after the disaster they created by printing money to the point their 100 trillion dollar bill became a symbol of what happens when a government losses complete control over their fiat, they capitulated and let people use dollars, euros and other currencies and then they abandoned their own, things were doing great until they had the great idea of introducing their currency again, with disastrous results as you may expect.

[oHnK]

Really it's only the developing nations with weak national currencies and troubled economies that are considering this.  There are no first world countries with a strong economy and a strong currency that are entertaining bitcoin as a viable national currency.  An optimist would call this "innovative" while a pessimist would call it "gimmicky."  I'm closer to the latter group, because at the end of the day, bitcoin won't solve these nation's economic woes, and it's not going to prove to be a very useful currency if it can't hold a steady value (unless that country is experiencing hyperinflation).

Yup, countries that have unstable economies that consider other currencies to be legal as their medium of exchange because basically the currency of a country is not only used according to its function, it is also the identity of the country.  Bitcoin is good as an investment option but to be used as a legal medium of exchange in many countries this is a very difficult task and takes a long time.  Although there are countries that have ratified it as a legal medium of exchange, it is not sufficient to represent the entire country.

[qwertyup23]

This question entirely depends on the laws/regulations of the country. When we mean by 'legal tender', it means that a person may be compelled to be paid using such currency since the government recognizes its validity and transaction on the country.

I do think that BTC, by being a legal tender, will pose problems in some countries especially in third-world and underdeveloped countries where access to such technology is hindered. When you rely something that is volatile as a legal tender, people might not opt to choose such option especially if they rely so much on their income. This is only beneficial to countries that are thriving economically where they can exercise BTC as a form of investment.

[watergold]

but that doesn't mean something like this is done like a total adoption.
bitcoin will indeed be one of the technologies that will increasingly be recognized, but the process running in every country will not be the same because what I believe for now is only countries that are still lagging behind in the economy or whose economy is low that will do that. like the example of elsavador which it is clear they are still lagging behind in the economy.
it's a different story with countries that still have high economic power, they may legalize it but only as an option and even they must have some who are against it and create a match for bitcoin as China is doing today.

[Botnake]

There is always an opposition against adopting Bitcoin in every country. As is the case in El Salvador not all accept Bitcoin but all have alternatives to using other available finance. I'm not sure for all countries really recognize decentralization that they don't fully control the rate of transactions. Because if they finally admit it, then at least there must be a tax that the government should get from it.

For those countries who had accepted and recognize bitcoin as a legal tender, then they are surely obliged to pay taxes on the government. But for those who are not, no tax will be collected. But even if means huge amount of tax from bitcoin, i think the government is not convinced yet to finally recognize bitcoin as a legal tender because bitcoin requires more transparency wherein the government don't have any. And for now, they are more focused on fiat that is fully centralized even if the rising inflation is becoming more inevitable.

[romero121]

We should not expect very fast acceptance. It takes time, just think of El Salvador. The country's government haave supported, but certain groups have been protesting an were against the decision. This is an example. Same as this different countries have varied varied views on bitcoin. To come to a common level of acceptance/adoption isn't simple. Countries that were against bitcoin usage have now on the process of legalizing its usage. Slowly this transition will happen with adoption as well.

[Rajamuda]

In my country, this is like a question that is really still vague on the answer. Bitcoin is still very closely related as a digital currency only that is valuable or like an asset that continues to accompany the business world or other income.
The government has very strong regulations, which is not easy to decide on something that still has certain risks like Bitcoin. Acceptance of Bitcoin as a legalized currency has indeed occurred in certain countries, well maybe here is the only consideration that distinguishes it, related to applicable government regulations.

[FanEagle]

I believe legal tender would be harsh, however accepting it as a currency that could be used in certain cases could be done. Think about it this way if I live in USA and can buy something with Euro then it is not a legal tender is it? I mean it sort of is but it is not exactly their national currency neither, I can go to whole world and exchange dollars and Euros for the national fiat of wherever I am which would make me a good profit in the end as well if I am trading it carefully.

Crypto is already sort of like that, as long as you can exchange it for fiat, then you should be considering it like a currency. Foreign currency exchanges in touristic places do usually have crypto these days and that is what matters to me.

[Silberman]

We should not expect very fast acceptance. It takes time, just think of El Salvador. The country's government haave supported, but certain groups have been protesting an were against the decision. This is an example. Same as this different countries have varied varied views on bitcoin. To come to a common level of acceptance/adoption isn't simple. Countries that were against bitcoin usage have now on the process of legalizing its usage. Slowly this transition will happen with adoption as well.

It is going to be a very slow process as we cannot expect governments to accept so easily that another currency can used on their territory as this could put their own national currency at risk, if anything what we are seeing at El Salvador is incredible as I did not thought that something like this will be possible so soon, but this also shows what it can be achieved once government support is reached, under those circumstances adoption skyrockets as what we have seen at El Salvador can show right now.

[tulusikhlas]

There is always an opposition against adopting Bitcoin in every country. As is the case in El Salvador not all accept Bitcoin but all have alternatives to using other available finance. I'm not sure for all countries really recognize decentralization that they don't fully control the rate of transactions. Because if they finally admit it, then at least there must be a tax that the government should get from it.

For those countries who had accepted and recognize bitcoin as a legal tender, then they are surely obliged to pay taxes on the government. But for those who are not, no tax will be collected. But even if means huge amount of tax from bitcoin, i think the government is not convinced yet to finally recognize bitcoin as a legal tender because bitcoin requires more transparency wherein the government don't have any. And for now, they are more focused on fiat that is fully centralized even if the rising inflation is becoming more inevitable.

Therefore, if the concept is in the application of Bitcoin in a country, then it is better to make it only an investment alternative. Because when they worry about the opposition trying to make the issue of shifting fiat money by Bitcoin. So when countries don't want Bitcoins as a legal payment, they can put Bitcoins only for investment alternatives as stocks do in general.

[izsara]

I believe legal tender would be harsh, however accepting it as a currency that could be used in certain cases could be done. Think about it this way if I live in USA and can buy something with Euro then it is not a legal tender is it? I mean it sort of is but it is not exactly their national currency neither, I can go to whole world and exchange dollars and Euros for the national fiat of wherever I am which would make me a good profit in the end as well if I am trading it carefully.

Crypto is already sort of like that, as long as you can exchange it for fiat, then you should be considering it like a currency. Foreign currency exchanges in touristic places do usually have crypto these days and that is what matters to me.

I'm not too surprised when Portugal can beat with such a landslide score considering the two teams are very different in terms of quality and especially for Ronaldo I can't say anything more about this guy, he always makes people chuckle for what he does in the field.

and for England, they have a lot of work to do, especially for finishing, which is like a scourge that England can't handle, especially during yesterday's match.
they are indeed very good both in possession and pressing but they are always weak in finishing.

[AicecreaME]

It's a subjective question. This matter really depends on what country we are talking about and what kind of government they have. For those developed and first world countries, it would really take time for their government to recognize and acknowledge bitcoin and other coins to be a legal tender since most of them mainly focus on growing their local currency and boosting it. Instead of accepting crypto, they would rather focus on their own currency and utilize it to make its purchasing power more efficient and strong.

In addition, most of them think that crypto don't really have that much value. And given its nature which is decentralized, they won't get to control it like what they usually do with fiat money when they need and want to - they just print out of thin air. I guess what's more likely to accept crypto as legal tenders are the ones who are still developing just like El Salvador and most likely Venezuela and Paraguay. Because they think that crypto will help their economy and its transition to digital world. They have seen its potential and they believe in it which is a brave move if i must say.

[Marvell1]

I believe governments have recently considered accepting BTC as a payment coin and as a means to be used as a legal tender. El Salvador I watched the developments in this country about The acceptance of BTC as payment coin and monthly salary for people in their country is gradually being accepted. But it seems that there are still some issues that have not been fully resolved so that some countries on their central bank side are still apprehensive about BTC.

[Semar Mesem]

With many government of the world will accept Bitcoin and other crypto currency as a legal tender but before then government will to regulate it's operation and other activities. If the happen issue of anonymity will no longer exist because government will have to know each every account owners to enable them the compliance for tax payment.

The first step that we are seeing now is the implementation of KYC, I believe that if the use of crypto becomes more massive, then to withdraw money, I need to have verified the address and so on, as long as it is not detrimental, of course, this is a good step and I hope that if the government enters crypto, it can do something. many things not only income from taxes but security of crypto users.

[LUCKMCFLY]

I believe governments have recently considered accepting BTC as a payment coin and as a means to be used as a legal tender. El Salvador I watched the developments in this country about The acceptance of BTC as payment coin and monthly salary for people in their country is gradually being accepted. But it seems that there are still some issues that have not been fully resolved so that some countries on their central bank side are still apprehensive about BTC.

You are right, in fact this is something very normal, I imagine that the president of El Salvador had to have foreseen all these scenarios, everything comes from changing the mental chip from the safe to the "volatile", from a traditional economy to an economy " deflationary ", in addition to that many people in El Slavador are going through a process that they have to learn much more about BTC, even so many still continue wasting the opportunity that the government is giving them, this is a unique opportunity that these people have , they really do not know the benefits that are being lost, more if they give the payments in BTC.

[Silberman]

It's a subjective question. This matter really depends on what country we are talking about and what kind of government they have. For those developed and first world countries, it would really take time for their government to recognize and acknowledge bitcoin and other coins to be a legal tender since most of them mainly focus on growing their local currency and boosting it. Instead of accepting crypto, they would rather focus on their own currency and utilize it to make its purchasing power more efficient and strong.

In addition, most of them think that crypto don't really have that much value. And given its nature which is decentralized, they won't get to control it like what they usually do with fiat money when they need and want to - they just print out of thin air. I guess what's more likely to accept crypto as legal tenders are the ones who are still developing just like El Salvador and most likely Venezuela and Paraguay. Because they think that crypto will help their economy and its transition to digital world. They have seen its potential and they believe in it which is a brave move if i must say.

This makes sense, powerful countries see all the money that is being generated in the industry and they want some of that money for themselves but at the same time they do not want bitcoin to grow and become even more powerful, this is a difficult dilemma and they have decided they will deal with this by regulating bitcoin to the extreme, but this means people will not want to use their money there, however the acceptance that other countries could offer is way more friendly and this means that over the long term users and businesses will tend to gravitate towards the countries which are more friendly to them.

[Abiky]

After El Salvador regulated Bitcoin as legal tender, other countries are tempted to follow in its footsteps:

Brazil Set To Adopt Bitcoin As Its Legal Tender

Panama unveils bill to make Bitcoin legal tender

Ukraine could soon become the second country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender

Obviously these are countries that have seen an opportunity, but it is much more difficult for countries like the USA, EU countries, Australia, etc. to do so. So far Bitcoin has been regulated in most countries as (intangible) property. Consequently, it has also been taxed so that every time you spend Bitcoin you should declare and pay taxes. If you buy $1,000 of Bitcoin, the price goes up 10% and you buy a $5 coffee at Starbucks, you will owe taxes on 10% of that $5. If the next day the price of Bitcoin goes down and it is only 5% above your initial investment, when you make a purchase you will also owe taxes but only on 5%.

This, as I explained in another thread, makes it difficult for Bitcoin to be used as a day-to-day currency. In order to keep track of all transactions and pay taxes correctly you should rely on some App or some kind of software that keeps track of transactions and does the calculations for you. This means giving up your privacy and giving your purchase data to a centralized entity.

However, if Bitcoin is recognized as a legal tender, you will no longer have to pay taxes for buying coffees. In the same way that you don't have to pay taxes when you shop at the supermarket in dollars because the dollar has appreciated 2% against the euro in the last day.

I understand that the governments of the most economically powerful countries are going to be much more reticent than El Salvador and others who are seeing an opportunity.

On the one hand, if they make it legal to tender, they will lose money to be collected in direct taxes, and on the other hand they will lose at least part of the power they have with the massive printing of currency.

That is why I wonder if in the future, more and more countries will pass legislation that considers Bitcoin legal to tender and in the end the more economically powerful countries will have to capitulate and do the same.

What do you think?

I think other countries will watch El Salvador closely, in order to make their move. If adopting Bitcoin as legal tender becomes a long-term success, you can rest assured that countries in Latin America will do the same. For developed countries like the USA, UK, and Australia, that's another story. Their economies are going well without Bitcoin, so there would be no need to make it legal tender. Especially the US, where the US Dollar is going strong. It's hard to believe governments will give up Fiat in exchange for Bitcoin, since the latter is decentralized and outside of their control. As long as Bitcoin cannot be controlled by the government, the chances of being adopted as legal tender are slim. I'm fine with that as long as Bitcoin remains a decentralized and censorship-resistant cryptocurrency anyone can use worldwide. Just my opinion

[bitgolden]

On the one hand, if they make it legal to tender, they will lose money to be collected in direct taxes, and on the other hand they will lose at least part of the power they have with the massive printing of currency.

For good and services, the direct taxes will not get any impact because of adopt of bitcoin in my understanding. One probable solution for governments is they will enforce to register our bitcoin addresses with their ledger and then will enforce to do all bitcoin transaction through that addy only. You may have 100s of BTC addys but when you are going to buy a product the merchant will accept payment only from your registered bitcoin addy. So, your BTC spending could be monitored at some level and from that government will tax you.

This is based on an assumption like, you may hold as much as bitcoins but you may need to pay tax for what ever amount that you are going to spend.

So, governments may come forward without much hesitations when they will find more proper solutions to tax us wherever applicable even we are living with decentralized money.

[onecall123]

No one makes fun of it. Blockchains exist, but none one get competitor. Authorities don't want a competition to their fiat. It will either be taken over or banned in favor of making their own digital currency, which has already been implemented by the central banks. The Chinese government banned crypto to buy the dip and announce the e-yuan as backed by the government. But nothing is impossible. 

[TheGreatPython]

you may hold as much as bitcoins but you may need to pay tax for what ever amount that you are going to spend.

This sounds valid and practical because this is how a system should work. Governments will not be having any problem to make bitcoin is a legal tender when they are able to tax a bitcoiner. I guess in near future we might be having this kind of taxation system. I understand what you are mentioning is just a draft work still government may work on this kind of solution to fine-tune it and to enhance it so that they will find a suitable solution for taxation of crypto transactions.

If this will lead to a proper working solution for taxing of crypto transactions then I guess almost every country will go for making bitcoin a legal tender. This will definitely will take bitcoin into million-dollar levels.

[wiss19]

Someone pointed out that superpower countries are going to be the ones that are not going to accept it. Take China for example, with the way they are going do you think that they will ever want to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender? I don’t think so.

Most of these big countries are not going to do that, you should also imagine England choosing bitcoin over their pounds sterling, and the United States choosing it over the United States Dollar, how possible could that be? If you look at all these things you would see that it’s really not going to work as you think. That El Salvador did it doesn’t mean that others are also going to do the same thing.

[Silberman]

After El Salvador regulated Bitcoin as legal tender, other countries are tempted to follow in its footsteps:

Brazil Set To Adopt Bitcoin As Its Legal Tender

Panama unveils bill to make Bitcoin legal tender

Ukraine could soon become the second country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender

Obviously these are countries that have seen an opportunity, but it is much more difficult for countries like the USA, EU countries, Australia, etc. to do so. So far Bitcoin has been regulated in most countries as (intangible) property. Consequently, it has also been taxed so that every time you spend Bitcoin you should declare and pay taxes. If you buy $1,000 of Bitcoin, the price goes up 10% and you buy a $5 coffee at Starbucks, you will owe taxes on 10% of that $5. If the next day the price of Bitcoin goes down and it is only 5% above your initial investment, when you make a purchase you will also owe taxes but only on 5%.

This, as I explained in another thread, makes it difficult for Bitcoin to be used as a day-to-day currency. In order to keep track of all transactions and pay taxes correctly you should rely on some App or some kind of software that keeps track of transactions and does the calculations for you. This means giving up your privacy and giving your purchase data to a centralized entity.

However, if Bitcoin is recognized as a legal tender, you will no longer have to pay taxes for buying coffees. In the same way that you don't have to pay taxes when you shop at the supermarket in dollars because the dollar has appreciated 2% against the euro in the last day.

I understand that the governments of the most economically powerful countries are going to be much more reticent than El Salvador and others who are seeing an opportunity.

On the one hand, if they make it legal to tender, they will lose money to be collected in direct taxes, and on the other hand they will lose at least part of the power they have with the massive printing of currency.

That is why I wonder if in the future, more and more countries will pass legislation that considers Bitcoin legal to tender and in the end the more economically powerful countries will have to capitulate and do the same.

What do you think?

I think other countries will watch El Salvador closely, in order to make their move. If adopting Bitcoin as legal tender becomes a long-term success, you can rest assured that countries in Latin America will do the same. For developed countries like the USA, UK, and Australia, that's another story. Their economies are going well without Bitcoin, so there would be no need to make it legal tender. Especially the US, where the US Dollar is going strong. It's hard to believe governments will give up Fiat in exchange for Bitcoin, since the latter is decentralized and outside of their control. As long as Bitcoin cannot be controlled by the government, the chances of being adopted as legal tender are slim. I'm fine with that as long as Bitcoin remains a decentralized and censorship-resistant cryptocurrency anyone can use worldwide. Just my opinion

And that is fine with me, however we are going to have to see if in the future the US and other powerful countries begin to pressure El Salvador and other countries that could be potentially interested in adopting bitcoin as legal tender in order to not do so, after all we know the US government is very powerful and influential and they could use their soft power to slow down or outright stop the progress of bitcoin on that particular field.

[Abiky]

Someone pointed out that superpower countries are going to be the ones that are not going to accept it. Take China for example, with the way they are going do you think that they will ever want to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender? I don’t think so.

Most of these big countries are not going to do that, you should also imagine England choosing bitcoin over their pounds sterling, and the United States choosing it over the United States Dollar, how possible could that be? If you look at all these things you would see that it’s really not going to work as you think. That El Salvador did it doesn’t mean that others are also going to do the same thing.

Developed countries like the USA and UK are simply too big to fail. What makes you think they'll abandon Fiat for Bitcoin? Their economies are going strong without Bitcoin in play, so it's unlikely they'll make the cryptocurrency legal tender in the future. For developing (third world) countries, that's another story. The main reason why El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, is because the government wanted to save its economy. After all, Bitcoin is deflationary whereas the US Dollar is not.

I have a feeling other developing countries (mostly Latin American countries) will follow El Salvador's footsteps as their economies continue to sink. What matters is that Bitcoin remains decentralized and censorship-resistant. Only then, people can enjoy true financial freedom. Who knows if Bitcoin lasts for generations? Just my thoughts

[turneps]

Is Bitcoin Legal or Illegal? The answer – it depends on the user's location and activity.
Consumers have a greater ability to purchase goods and services with Bitcoin Although Bitcoin appears at a glance as a well-established electronic money system, there is still no unified international law governing Bitcoin.
Some countries have indirectly adopted the legal use of Bitcoin by enacting some regulatory oversight. Such as: United States, Canada, Australia, Venezuela, European Union, ...
While Bitcoin is welcomed in many parts of the world, some countries are wary of its volatility, decentralization, perceived threat to existing monetary systems and links to other currencies. illegal activities such as drug trafficking and money laundering. Some countries have completely banned digital currencies while others have tried to cut off any support from the banking and financial system necessary for transactions and use. Such as: China, Russia, Bolivia, Columbia and Ecuador, Vietnam,...

[Abiky]

Is Bitcoin Legal or Illegal? The answer – it depends on the user's location and activity.
Consumers have a greater ability to purchase goods and services with Bitcoin Although Bitcoin appears at a glance as a well-established electronic money system, there is still no unified international law governing Bitcoin.
Some countries have indirectly adopted the legal use of Bitcoin by enacting some regulatory oversight. Such as: United States, Canada, Australia, Venezuela, European Union, ...
While Bitcoin is welcomed in many parts of the world, some countries are wary of its volatility, decentralization, perceived threat to existing monetary systems and links to other currencies. illegal activities such as drug trafficking and money laundering. Some countries have completely banned digital currencies while others have tried to cut off any support from the banking and financial system necessary for transactions and use. Such as: China, Russia, Bolivia, Columbia and Ecuador, Vietnam,...

Exactly. It all depends on a governments' stance towards Bitcoin. Adopting it as legal tender would only increase Bitcoin's growth within that region. The more popular Bitcoin becomes, the more tempted governments will be in legalizing Bitcoin for their own benefit. After all, they wouldn't want to miss a huge opportunity to profit from crypto taxes. El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, while others are in the process of doing so (mainly countries in Latin America). Developed countries like the United States and UK are already devising laws in order to legitimize Bitcoin as much as possible. This is good because it takes Bitcoin one step closer towards becoming a global cryptocurrency. Who knows if Bitcoin manages to replace Fiat sometime in the future? Just my thoughts

[sgenuine]

I see that countries mostly with weak economy are adopting Bitcoin now as their national currency is subject to hyperinflation while Bitcoin seems to be more secure. As for developed countries, I don't think that they will accept crypto as a national currency in the nearest future as authorities certainly don't want to lose control over finances.

[wxa7115]

Someone pointed out that superpower countries are going to be the ones that are not going to accept it. Take China for example, with the way they are going do you think that they will ever want to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender? I don’t think so.

Most of these big countries are not going to do that, you should also imagine England choosing bitcoin over their pounds sterling, and the United States choosing it over the United States Dollar, how possible could that be? If you look at all these things you would see that it’s really not going to work as you think. That El Salvador did it doesn’t mean that others are also going to do the same thing.

Recognizing bitcoin as a legal tender is not really choosing between fiat or bitcoin, governments could still print their fiat and make bitcoin legal tender alongside it, however even this scenario is unlikely under normal circumstances.

So when this could happen? When circumstances are anything but normal, right now governments are recognizing inflation is high but they are assuring their population that this is temporal, but what if it is not? At some point people will realize how much purchasing power they are losing and they will look for ways to keep it, and bitcoin will be there for them, bitcoin will become a de facto legal tender, and after some time the government will have no other option but to recognize this on the law.