Abstract
In releasing Notice 2014-21, the IRS has declared virtual currency to be property. While this may be a disappointment for some people who wished cryptocurrency to be treated the same as regular currency, the classification as property has placed virtual currency, such as Bitcoin, on par with precious metals as a means of storing equity. This is an ultimate development of current classically based information technologies and has an enormous impact on developing and emerging markets around the world which are striving to implement microfinance schemes that hold the promise of bringing a large portion of Earth’s population out of abstract poverty. The transportability, transferability, liquidity and relative security of cryptocurrency opens the global marketplace to people who would otherwise be forced to work through a long line of intermediaries. This holds potential for further advancing the utilitarian maximization of the state of happiness for portions of the planet that are currently struggling with meeting basic needs.
Harlan Swyers