Andrew Yang, boy of an IBM scientist and university systems administrator, is a techno-savvy prospect for president. What’s with the MATHEMATICS hat? He informed CNBC: “One of my supporters said something to me — that the opposite of Donald Trump is an Asian man who likes math.”
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Cryptocurrency is now a main concern in the United States governmental election.
You’re most likely most acquainted with cryptocurrency by method of bitcoin, which skyrocketed in worth in 2017 then primarily collapsed in 2018. But the innovation spreads out far beyond that, and governmental prospect Andrew Yang states now’s the time for clearer federal government guidelines to motivate its advancement in the United States.
Yang, a tech business owner and now among a minimum of 18 Democratic oppositions to Donald Trump, is far from the frontrunner for an election that’s still a year and a half away. But the reality that he’s weighing in at all programs that cryptocurrency and associated innovation, like blockchain, isn’t simply a fascination of crypto-anarchists who desire a state-of-the-art option to a safe filled with Krugerrands.
If Yang gets his method, cryptocurrencies might end up being better and move beyond early issues like preliminary coin offering (ICO) rip-offs and criminal payment usages. Maybe they’ll even be something you utilize in your every day life.
Today’s guidelines, consisting of federal and some state laws, have actually had “a chilling effect on the US digital asset market,” and laws have not stayed up to date with cryptocurrency advancements, Yang stated in policy paper released Thursday. “Uncertainty in what regulatory framework will develop is causing US investment in the area to lag behind the investment of other countries.”
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Cryptocurrencies are far more complicated than the rise and fall of bitcoin. People have mostly treated them as assets to invest or speculate in. Cryptocurrencies can also serve a purpose similar to plain old money used to buy and sell things, or to store value.
The accounting mechanism behind cryptocurrencies, called blockchain, can be used for all sorts of record keeping, like the sale of houses or the tracking of inventory. “The blockchain has vast potential,” Yang wrote.
Yang: Not every crypto asset is a security
Yang argues that US regulations must differentiate between cryptocurrencies used as money and cryptocurrencies used as securities, like company stock, that you can invest in. He also calls for consumer protections for cryptocurrency transactions, as well as simpler tax rules for buying and selling digital assets.
Today, the IRS treats cryptocurrency largely as a security. If you buy some cryptocurrency and it rises in value, you have to pay tax on any profits you make when you sell it. That tax treatment is at odds with the idea that cryptocurrency can function as money.
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Though Yang shows a certain enthusiasm for cryptocurrency issues, at least compared with his Democratic rivals, that doesn’t mean everybody in the cryptocurrency world is a fan. One person’s clear regulation and consumer protection is another person’s government meddling.
For example, one person in Reddit’s cryptocurrency forum assessed Yang’s cryptocurrency proposal as an effort to “tax it to oblivion” and require us to report all past and current cryptocurrency holdings to the IRS.
Andrew Yang, cryptocurrency candidate
Yang had already staked out a claim as the cryptocurrency candidate in his 2018 announcement, in which he said he’d accept donations in bitcoin, ether and other cryptocurrencies. The process isn’t simple, though, and requires “a 15-minute phone call with a member of the compliance team.”
Meanwhile, Yang also would like to see the US get rid of a financial instrument he sees as obsolete: the penny.
Yang during an interview at CNET in March.
Jesse Orrall/CNET
“It costs more to make a penny than it is worth,” which means taxpayers have to pay $70 million a year, Yang argues. “Getting rid of them will save us money and time. Good for the environment too.”
Yang, the son of an IBM researcher and university systems administrator, is a techno-savvy candidate. In an interview at CNET in March, Yang discussed everything from drones to deplatforming people on social media to Trump’s Space Force. Among other technology related stances in his policy positions, Yang wants to:
It’ll be difficult to finding political consensus on any of those issues, much less to win an election on them. But as the digital revolution spreads to every corner of our lives, expect more politicians to acquire Yang’s taste for tech.
