6 ms·

Sounds like a senator just bought a bunch of bitcoin.

by thomascgalvin 7y ago

dexterdog 7y ago
Or somebody with a lot of Bitcoin just bought a senator or two.
- giancarlostoro 7y ago
  More like a lot of people with $199 worth of crypto did if they dont want to pay taxes.
- Melting_Harps 7y ago
  Both reasonable possibilities, but I'm going to side with the former; all politicians are the same, regardless of perceived affiliation, and self-interest is chiefly what got them where they are and what drives most, if not all, of their actions. So, this is looking a lot like post-Maidan revolution Ukraine, a lot of the political class championed a ton of favourable legislation for Bitcoin. As it turned out later, a lot of them had accumulated BTC over that time. Surprise! I think we should see that as a variable in the equation at this point, considering we've plateaued in adoption as all of the tech inclined have either already on-boarded or have dismissed it off entirely as a passing fad/ponzi scheme and are waiting for its constantly-touted 'demise.' We need to focus on getting the curious and motivated, but not entirely tech-savvy, introduced to this tech and having the threat of yet another tax burden to deal with if they use it to buy their morning latte is and was always going to put them off. Personally, I don't think crypto was ever intended to be used for such transactions, but this the standard by which everyone asks if/when they ask what can it buy. In my opinion, given what we saw in Hong Kong with UBS stealing the crowd-sourced funds of protestors, focusing on on-boarding a movement like Extinction Rebellion would be a better fit, perhaps seeing a well-versed Greta Thunberg at Davos speaking about the pitfalls of fractional reserve banking, quantitative easing and rehypotheication (and that of War and the impacts it has on climate change and resource mismanagement) would do much more good than getting shaked down by every politician waiting for the crypto rich to get a law introduced. Also worth noting, though I'm not sure if its positive, the ex-ceo of Bakkt is now a Senator for Georgia: https://www.newsbtc.com/2019/12/04/a-bitcoiner-in-the-senate-is-bakkt-ceo-in-us-govt-good-or-bad-for-crypto/ https://www.newsbtc.com/2019/12/04/a-bitcoiner-in-the-senate...
  - IfOnlyYouKnew 7y ago
    You are really taking this bad attempt at humor seriously? A single Senator has no power. And, as the rest of the threat makes clear, this change does not allow anyone to save any sort of relevant money. These everyone-is-corrupt-takes may (sometimes) make you look oh so smart, cynical, and contrarian. And I'm over asking people to bring evidence when accusing others. But at least reserve them for the times where the scheme makes some sort of sense in theory. The problem, otherwise, is that it stops making sense for politicians to be honest. Because why bother, when everyone is going to yell "liar" or "kill the corrupt bastard" at you, completely independent of any actual things you did?
    - Melting_Harps 7y ago
      > The problem, otherwise, is that it stops making sense for politicians to be honest. Because why bother, when everyone is going to yell "liar" or "kill the corrupt bastard" at you, completely independent of any actual things you did? No, that is the Nature of the profession and merely a perk of the job. I'll never understand what compels Humans to want to rule over other Humans, it seems altogether like a defect of Human Social Order; so, no I don't accept your politician-apologists position, if you don't like being seen as a corrupt crony of the State, then find a more honorable job, there are plenty more. These people are not the bastion of Social order, and are often exposed for their predatory behaviour, especially when they fall out of favor of the Media; but that is some how excused because its part of the 'legislative process.' The world can do with less politicians, I'm sure we will cope. As for the Bakkt CEO, I'm not sure what to make of it... I'm one of he few people in my social circle that is completely detached from the circus people call modern politics--it doesn't amuse me, it actually makes me despondent to think this is what modernity has afford us in order to maintain the illusion of civilization/society when we can and should do so much more as a Species in what is the Greatest period of Human existence.
AmericanChopper 7y ago
Would have to be ~0.023 BTC or less for them to benefit from this.
- anjc 7y ago
  Per transaction! This seems like it'll make day trading tax free, if it isn't your main source of income
  - flyingfences 7y ago
    The exemption is limited to "personal transactions" - using currency as a currency, not trading for profit.
    - anjc 7y ago
      If it's not your main source of income then it's presumably a personal transaction, i.e. it's not a company transaction. This would cover most crypto day traders. That you're buying Litecoin from a stranger with your Bitcoin doesn't make it not personal.
      - flyingfences 7y ago
        The bill introduces the exact same exemption made for foreign currencies: you don't pay tax on small capital gains that you happen to accrue while you hold the currency and then spend it.
        anjc 7y ago
        A capital gain of $200 for a single transaction is plenty for day traders who do it in their spare time. This is still a personal transaction, even if you happen to profit from it.
        AmericanChopper 7y ago
        > This is still a personal transaction, even if you happen to profit from it. It’s a novel interpretation, but sadly the Internal Revenue Code already defines “personal transaction”, and it includes all business transactions, or transactions made for the purposes of producing income. I guess you’re free to interpret the law any way you like, but i’d recommend that anybody who wants to avoid criminal charges should not base any decisions on your definition of a personal transaction.
sailfast 7y ago
Maybe a Congressperson sees the possibility of crypto currency as a currency and wants to lower barriers on behalf of companies working on this?

Sounds like a senator just bought a bunch of bitcoin.

dexterdog 7y ago

Or somebody with a lot of Bitcoin just bought a senator or two.

giancarlostoro 7y ago
More like a lot of people with $199 worth of crypto did if they dont want to pay taxes.
Melting_Harps 7y ago
Both reasonable possibilities, but I'm going to side with the former; all politicians are the same, regardless of perceived affiliation, and self-interest is chiefly what got them where they are and what drives most, if not all, of their actions. So, this is looking a lot like post-Maidan revolution Ukraine, a lot of the political class championed a ton of favourable legislation for Bitcoin. As it turned out later, a lot of them had accumulated BTC over that time. Surprise! I think we should see that as a variable in the equation at this point, considering we've plateaued in adoption as all of the tech inclined have either already on-boarded or have dismissed it off entirely as a passing fad/ponzi scheme and are waiting for its constantly-touted 'demise.' We need to focus on getting the curious and motivated, but not entirely tech-savvy, introduced to this tech and having the threat of yet another tax burden to deal with if they use it to buy their morning latte is and was always going to put them off. Personally, I don't think crypto was ever intended to be used for such transactions, but this the standard by which everyone asks if/when they ask what can it buy. In my opinion, given what we saw in Hong Kong with UBS stealing the crowd-sourced funds of protestors, focusing on on-boarding a movement like Extinction Rebellion would be a better fit, perhaps seeing a well-versed Greta Thunberg at Davos speaking about the pitfalls of fractional reserve banking, quantitative easing and rehypotheication (and that of War and the impacts it has on climate change and resource mismanagement) would do much more good than getting shaked down by every politician waiting for the crypto rich to get a law introduced. Also worth noting, though I'm not sure if its positive, the ex-ceo of Bakkt is now a Senator for Georgia: https://www.newsbtc.com/2019/12/04/a-bitcoiner-in-the-senate-is-bakkt-ceo-in-us-govt-good-or-bad-for-crypto/ https://www.newsbtc.com/2019/12/04/a-bitcoiner-in-the-senate...
- IfOnlyYouKnew 7y ago
  You are really taking this bad attempt at humor seriously? A single Senator has no power. And, as the rest of the threat makes clear, this change does not allow anyone to save any sort of relevant money. These everyone-is-corrupt-takes may (sometimes) make you look oh so smart, cynical, and contrarian. And I'm over asking people to bring evidence when accusing others. But at least reserve them for the times where the scheme makes some sort of sense in theory. The problem, otherwise, is that it stops making sense for politicians to be honest. Because why bother, when everyone is going to yell "liar" or "kill the corrupt bastard" at you, completely independent of any actual things you did?
  - Melting_Harps 7y ago
    > The problem, otherwise, is that it stops making sense for politicians to be honest. Because why bother, when everyone is going to yell "liar" or "kill the corrupt bastard" at you, completely independent of any actual things you did? No, that is the Nature of the profession and merely a perk of the job. I'll never understand what compels Humans to want to rule over other Humans, it seems altogether like a defect of Human Social Order; so, no I don't accept your politician-apologists position, if you don't like being seen as a corrupt crony of the State, then find a more honorable job, there are plenty more. These people are not the bastion of Social order, and are often exposed for their predatory behaviour, especially when they fall out of favor of the Media; but that is some how excused because its part of the 'legislative process.' The world can do with less politicians, I'm sure we will cope. As for the Bakkt CEO, I'm not sure what to make of it... I'm one of he few people in my social circle that is completely detached from the circus people call modern politics--it doesn't amuse me, it actually makes me despondent to think this is what modernity has afford us in order to maintain the illusion of civilization/society when we can and should do so much more as a Species in what is the Greatest period of Human existence.

AmericanChopper 7y ago

Would have to be ~0.023 BTC or less for them to benefit from this.

anjc 7y ago
Per transaction! This seems like it'll make day trading tax free, if it isn't your main source of income
- flyingfences 7y ago
  The exemption is limited to "personal transactions" - using currency as a currency, not trading for profit.
  - anjc 7y ago
    If it's not your main source of income then it's presumably a personal transaction, i.e. it's not a company transaction. This would cover most crypto day traders. That you're buying Litecoin from a stranger with your Bitcoin doesn't make it not personal.
    - flyingfences 7y ago
      The bill introduces the exact same exemption made for foreign currencies: you don't pay tax on small capital gains that you happen to accrue while you hold the currency and then spend it.
      - anjc 7y ago
        A capital gain of $200 for a single transaction is plenty for day traders who do it in their spare time. This is still a personal transaction, even if you happen to profit from it.
        AmericanChopper 7y ago
        > This is still a personal transaction, even if you happen to profit from it. It’s a novel interpretation, but sadly the Internal Revenue Code already defines “personal transaction”, and it includes all business transactions, or transactions made for the purposes of producing income. I guess you’re free to interpret the law any way you like, but i’d recommend that anybody who wants to avoid criminal charges should not base any decisions on your definition of a personal transaction.

sailfast 7y ago

Maybe a Congressperson sees the possibility of crypto currency as a currency and wants to lower barriers on behalf of companies working on this?