By Robert McMillian
The US government has been seriously studying bitcoin for about two years now. The FBI knows how to seize the digital currency. The Marshal’s Service knows how to sell it. The IRS knows how to tax it. And now, the Federal Reserve should copy it.
So says James Angel, a professor of economics at Georgetown University. He thinks the government should create what he calls “bitdollar,” a bitcoin-like digital currency that’s backed by the US dollar.
Yes, many believe the whole point of bitcoin is to separate money from the governments of the world. But bitcoin also seeks to create an open payment network anyone can use without jumping through the hoops that encumber, say, credit card or international money transfer networks, and Angel thinks the government can help accomplish such a thing.
He is among those who believe the really powerful idea is bitcoin as a payment system, rather than bitcoin as a currency.
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