31 October 2013 | By Jim Urquhart | rt.com
Bitcoin is an indiscriminate and pure technology, with which you can be anywhere and be anybody and still be able to spend – that’s why it’s very popular in the developing world, economist Jeffrey Tucker told RT.
RT: So, “Bitcoiniacs” has set up the first ever bitcoin ATM. Is this pushing legal boundaries? How will the authorities view this?
Jeffrey Tucker: I don’t think so. Probably not in Canada. Canada has more liberal laws than US. In fact, almost everybody in the world has more liberal laws than the US as regards bitcoin. The US is now restricting what is called ‘money exchange businesses’, so there is so much high cost associated with ATMs. It doesn’t surprise me that it started in Canada rather than the US. The US will lose out if it continues this trend towards regulating crypto currency.
RT: The digital currency still relies on traditional hard currencies to calculate its value. So has it really replaced anything?
JT: Wait a minute. Everything relies on traditional hard currencies to calculate value. That doesn’t make bitcoin different from anything else, everything has a price in real currency. Really it’s formulated to be an alternative currency and there is no reason why it can’t itself become a means of calculation, so you can do your accounting. In fact, people do this all the time. You can enter into bitcoin sphere and live a wonderful life. Look, I know it’s difficult to understand, and if you don’t understand it, you shouldn’t feel alone. Economists of the Federal Reserve, of the Treasury and overall Academia do not understand it either. It’s one of these wonderful market innovations that shocked everybody.
