Success usually invites scrutiny. And such is the case with the digital coins known as Bitcoin. These coins, which were created only a decade or so ago and give adopters the chance to buy and sell on the internet without the need for an overseeing third party, have enjoyed a stunning rise in value from their earliest days. As a result, that has resulted in large, governing bodies trying to decide whether the coins are in some way unhealthy for the population at large. It can make Bitcoin users extremely leery about the future of the coins, as it seems like whether they will continue to make for both good investments and useful financial tools can come down to when and where lawmakers decide to weigh in on the issue.
For that reason, it’s a good idea for those folks who are investing in Bitcoin to keep an eye on the news pages as well as the financial and technology sections when they are reading their morning papers. That can let them know if a local or national body is going to crack down on the coins or perhaps embrace them in some way. If you are planning to invest in Bitcoin, you might want to utilize a trading program in the manner of Bitcoin Code which automatically incorporates all of this information into its decision-making process. In the meantime, investors should consider the legal plight of Bitcoin when deciding whether to buy and sell.
- What Scares Lawmakers
Lawmakers are inherently suspicious of things of which they have no control, and Bitcoin falls into that realm. Not only do they have no control of it, but they are watching as many people get extremely wealthy simply by being involved in it. That kind of attention-grabbing works for Bitcoin in that it attracts curious investors, but it also works against it because it quickly garners the notice of regulatory bodies who aren’t sure about it all.
- The Bad Actors
In the past, there have been a few instances where people used the clandestine, secured nature of Bitcoin transactions to conduct illegal activities. These activities received a lot of notoriety when they were discovered and prosecuted, perhaps in no small part to the fact that Bitcoin, which many people didn’t know about at the time, was involved. That put it on lawmakers’ radar in a big way.
- Federal Vs Local
If indeed there is some sort of attempt to harness Bitcoin or even crack down on it by local authorities, investors may still be able to skirt by while holding on to their coins. That’s because legal bodies don’t usually move fast, and they are often constrained in terms of their limits. Think of how, in the United States, there is always an uneasy balance between the laws of state and federal governments.
The horizon in terms of regulatory oversight on Bitcoin is very much cloudy. Investors should keep their eye on that horizon as much as possible even while staying concerned about how Bitcoin is doing in the here and now.