Quote from: JackMehoff on November 21, 2013, 05:12:47 AM

Quote

"no intrinsic value if is not a currency"

The Department of Justice said Bitcoins can be legal means of exchange at a U.S. Senate committee hearing, boosting prospects for wider acceptance of the virtual currency.

We all recognize that virtual currencies, in and of themselves, are not illegal, Mythili Raman, acting assistant attorney general at the Justice Departments criminal division, said at the hearing.

Gold and silver are a legal means of exchange, yet they are not currencies as evident by the fact that you pay capital gains in the USA and VAT in Europe. You better be paying your capital gains on Bitcoin spends in the USA and VAT in the UK.

You do not pay capital gains nor VAT any where in the world (on a gain in the value of the currency) when you spend the legal tender currency.

So they have not declared Bitcoin to be a currency. The "virtual currencies" is a euphemism for "we are trying to decide what the f$ck this is, but it seems like virtual and some of the users think it is a currency".