Cryptocurrencies have never been a stranger to controversy and the recent tweets by John McAfee are another addition to his long-controversial statements. McAfee has a history of getting into trouble. This time around, he has challenged the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) to come after him even stating “here I am”, something no one would dare do. Recently, longtime congressman Ron Paul said that the government should not tax or regulate cryptocurrencies as he claimed, they can stop a recession. Until recently, the congressman was opposed to cryptocurrencies even calling it the biggest bubble of all. He also wanted the federal government to shut down Federal Reserve for keeping the interest rates so high. Let’s take a dive into these crazy statements.
IRS and crypto tax
The IRS has clearly stated that the investors who are gaining a profit from crypto holdings have to pay tax under capital gains. In February of 2018, the IRS, with the help of a court order, forced Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, to hand over the records of over 13,000 of its customers. This has enraged many as they never expected to pay taxes since crypto was unregulated and decentralized. Even though Coinbase had sent notices to many about handing over the records, there were many who were still outraged. Another complaint was that Coinbase did not warn its customers in advance, which meant that they could not file income tax returns on their own beforehand.
“Catch me if you can”
McAfee is a pioneer in the field of antivirus and founded the antivirus company McAfee antivirus. At his peak, McAfee was worth more than 100 million dollars, but the 2008 recession hit hard and has reportedly wiped out most of his personal wealth. McAfee is infamous for his erratic behavior. Once, he tweeted that he was running for president which he later admitted to being a PR stunt. McAfee will tweet anything as long as you pay him $105,000 which has landed him in trouble forcing him to apologize for endorsing an ICO which was a blatant plagiarized copy of another project. Some say that all the crazy stunts McAfee does are to get attention, a lazy old man who is bored with his life. Well, this stunt is surely going to get a lot of attention. Recently, McAfee tweeted that he has not paid income tax in 8 years. He listed a number of reasons for his actions in the tweet.
The IRS with his open admittal has enough evidence to pursue charges against him. McAfee is bashing at the IRS hard. He even went as far as stating, “Taxation is theft, it is unconstitutional”. He said the IRS has gotten too powerful and intimidating saying, “It now destroys us”. McAfee is a staunch supporter of cryptocurrencies and once said that Bitcoin will reach $100,000 in price.
I have not filed a tax return for 8 years. Why? 1: taxation is illegal. 2: I paid tens of millions already and received Jack Shit in services. 3. I'm done making money. I live off of cash from McAfee Inc. My net income is negative. But i am a prime target for the IRS. Here I am.
Federal Reserve is bad for the economy
Recently, Congressman Ron Paul urged the federal government to exempt all cryptocurrencies from taxation. He was a long time critique of cryptocurrencies and the current support that cryptocurrencies receive from the congressman is due to his belief that cryptocurrencies can save the economy from recession. He also blames the current slow down in the economy to the interest rates which are artificially kept high by the Federal Reserve, and hence he wants the government to shut it down. A right-wing Republican, Ron Paul believes in free markets and minimal government intervention, and cryptocurrencies happen to be the best example of such a free market. With such endorsement from a senior politician, this will surely create momentum in Washington, and with the recent formation of a digital asset task force in the state of New York, the final push for mainstream adoption of crypto seems closer by the day.
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