On December 5, the American author and retired politician, Ron Paul, joined the Stephan Livera Podcast episode 234 and discussed cryptocurrencies and bitcoin at great length. During the interview, the prominent libertarian said when bitcoin came out he was still in congress and he thought the most important thing to do at the time was make it legal. Paul stressed that he advises cryptocurrency advocates to be vigilant toward the government’s future intrusive financial meddling.
Making Sure Bitcoin Remains Legal
Ron Paul is one of the most beloved libertarians alive today and when he speaks a great number of people listen. Paul is an author of many books that encourage liberty and he also argues for the circumvention of unwarranted government entities like the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Federal Reserve. The former congressman and presidential candidate has always been a staunch supporter of free markets, libertarianism, and a proponent of safe-haven assets like gold.
During the last few years, Paul has shared his thoughts about bitcoin and the crypto economy many times in the past. Moreover, even though he’s not super well-versed in the technology, he likes cryptocurrencies for “philosophic and legalistic reasons.”
On December 5, 2020, Paul appeared on the recent Stephan Livera Podcast episode 234 and discussed bitcoin and free markets for over 30 minutes. As usual, Paul was a critic of the U.S. federal government’s fiscal policies on the show, and he even questioned the existence of the American tax policy. As far as bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are concerned, Paul said: “I think there’s a lot of questions to be answered and I don’t think the conclusion is there yet.”
“I’ve been impressed with what’s happened in the last few years because some people predicted [bitcoin] would be this popular, [and] other people were skeptical,” Paul told Livera during the podcast. “I think [skepticism] still exists, and my introduction to [bitcoin] has been mainly for philosophic and legalistic reasons, because I knew about this when it was becoming vogue when I was in congress. I thought the most important thing is to do is whatever we can to make [bitcoin] legal. This is why I [drafted] a bill that would legalize competing currencies because if it’s to be used as money, you are competing with the dollar and there’s some people who don’t like that.”
The former politician further added:
There are tax collectors out there too that want to know exactly what people are doing with alternative currencies.
Paul said when he was a politician, he was “mainly interested to make sure that it was legal.”
“I think it basically is and a lot of people trust it, a lot of people are buying and selling, but that doesn’t totally reassure me because I have a skepticism toward the government all the time,” Paul stressed. “You see I don’t even have total reassurance that the government won’t come along and want to confiscate my gold. Governments are pretty ornery, ya know, the more successful crypto is going to be and bitcoin, I think the more you have to be aware of what’s going on with the government becoming more aggressive.”
Ron Paul’s Advice to Crypto Advocates Is to Remain Vigilant
Paul then compared crypto assets to those in the private sector offering better services in the world of education in comparison to the government school system. “If you are doing private education outside the government’s education [system], such as homeschooling or private schooling and if you are too successful, the government is going to want to close you down— I think that’s the way it is in finance too,” Paul explained. During his conversation with Livera, Paul continued to criticize the IRS and the Fed’s massive 2020 money creation.
“As of now it looks like a lot of people believe in the marketplace and believe it can work,” Paul said about crypto advocates who support free markets. “My advice is to be vigilant. There’s information collected, the [crypto] exchanges are not totally anonymous and I read the stories about the IRS checking up on things. For somebody like myself, I don’t even believe in the IRS let alone being flexible enough [to say] ‘well as long as they are investigating me even if I follow the rules,’ well… In 1932 in the depth of the depression, people were allowed to own gold, and we were on the gold standard,” Paul declared.
The former congressman continued:
But immediately what did they do? They made it illegal to own gold all the way up until 1975.
During the podcast, Paul was very adamant about letting people make their own financial decisions. He highlighted that he likes the idea of how “cryptocurrencies have made people think” about that specifically. The self-professed gold bug and precious metals fan also added that he likes bitcoin’s supply limitation as well.
“The other thing I like about it is so far, [is] there’s a limitation of the creation of new currency. When I endorse cryptocurrency, I always admonish and say it will work if fraud is prohibited. Governments are used to doing fraud and that’s why the systems always go badly,” Paul added.
What do you think about Ron Paul’s recent statements about the federal government and bitcoin? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.
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