Australia Is Heading Towards Legalizing Bitcoin

Australian senators from different political parties have called on the Australian central bank to consider formally legalizing Bitcoin.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Labor Senator Sam Dastyari and Liberal Senator Jane Hume have joined forces to ask the central bank to:

“Embrace Bitcoins as an official form of currency or risk the future competitiveness of Australia's $145 bln a year financial services industry.”

Revolutionary leap

According to Sen. Dastyari, the move will become a revolutionary leap for the Reserve Bank and also for Australian financial institutions.

Senator Sam Dastyari says:

"This will be a revolutionary leap for the Reserve Bank and for Australian financial institutions, what we want to do here in Parliament is to create the political environment to allow that leap [for an Australian Bitcoin blockchain] to occur”.

He also adds:

"The question for Australia is are we going to follow or are we going to lead. We need to find a bipartisan way of doing this. We can't compete with our Asian neighbours when it comes to producing cheap goods and services anymore. We can compete when it comes to financial services but that is going to mean big, bold decisions."

Meanwhile, for her part, Senator Hume believes that Blockchain development in the country will be a major contributor in the technological revolution.

She says:

"The opportunities for government, academia, and the private sector are enormous."

Bitcoin’s all-time high

The move of the two senators was highly influenced by the spike in Bitcoin’s price, which continues to reach all-time highs.

Aside from Senators Dastyari and Hume, another Australian legislator has shown support for the cryptocurrency. Nationals Senator Matt Canavan has also openly backed greater support for Bitcoin.

Ronald Tucker, Chairman of the Australian Digital Currency Commerce Association, reiterated his belief that a government-backed virtual currency will eventually eliminate settlement times and foreign currency exchanges.

Tucker said:

"It would be an auditor's dream because you'll be able to see any transaction that moves on it."

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