John McAfee, founder of security provider McAfee, has expressed the belief that governments across the globe are in fear of cryptocurrencies.
This fear he believes is founded upon the fact that currencies like Bitcoin are decentralised, leaving governments out of pocket because they are not easily taxed.
McAfee’s viewpoint may be ratified by the recent government clamp downs on Bitcoin in China and South Korea.
“Our income taxes are the greatest source of revenue, but if everybody’s using Bitcoin, the government doesn’t know what your income is. They can’t tax it, and if you choose to say I didn’t have anything, they cannot prove otherwise,” John McAfee said to CalvinAyre.com.
He did however stand in opposition to initial coin offerings, a feature of the rise in cryptocurrency use that McAfee deems to often be fraudulent. Despite this, McAfee believes governments cannot turn the tide.
“It will eventually frighten every nation state, but it doesn’t matter what they do, there’s no way you can create a law or to legislate something that will stop Bitcoin or any cryptocurrency because technically, you cannot,” McAfee said.
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Today the Russian Central Bank moved to ban cryptocurrency websites, marking a further major move from the establishment to curb the rise of digital currency. First Deputy Governor of the Russian Central Bank, Segei Shvetsov, said: “We cannot stand apart. We cannot give direct and easy access to such dubious instruments for retail”
Bitcoin has soared in 2017, breaking the $5,000 mark at its recent peak, generating huge interest in the potential of cryptocurrencies. This meteoric progress may have sparked the concern among governments and banks.
In conclusion, John McAfee said: “So banks and governments are the ones that have the fear. Well they should have some fear. They have taken control and power away from their citizens for hundreds of years. It’s time that we, as citizens, took that power back.”
