Economics Homework Help

The IRS announced recently, to about 9 million individuals that they might be breaking the law by not reporting their transactions in Cryptocurrency. It added that they think of cryptocurrency as security and not as a currency and hence the taxability of trading it. What do you think is the effect of such a statement on the viability of cryptocurrency.

The rubric for this discussion is as follows: 5 points for posting by Thursday ( the initial post)  and 10 points for the content of the primary post and 5 points for the content of each of the two secondary posts.

first student respond 

 The cryptocurrency was formed to be a  free and governmentless way to buy, sell, and trade. Cryptocurrency has been able to thrive under no government regulation or third-party interference. The creators wanted to be able to shift away from the central bank and the regulations of the government. The government coming into the equation negates and defeats the purpose of why cryptocurrencies and the blockchain were formed. The IRS taxing cryptocurrency transactions has a major impact on the viability of cryptocurrency as it allows for them to have some control over it, which goes against the power of the people foundation it was built on. Cryptocurrency will start to turn into central banks where the government can view, tax, and control what people do with their digital money. 

second student respond  

 Cryptocurrency was mainly formed to be a way that the government was able to buy, sell and trade. The main goal of the government is control. The IRS announces that some people might be breaking the law because they are not reporting their transactions, in my opinion the IRS taxing cryptocurrency transactions will more than likely have a bigger impact on say the viability of said cryptocurrency. I believe that cryptocurrency will turn into central banks and then the government will be able to track what people are doing with their digital money and they will be able to have some level of control over it