Legalization helps Bitcoin develop rapidly in Australia, and gold and silver dealers begin trading Bitcoin

Paul Engeman, a bullion merchant in Queensland, Australia, has begun trading Bitcoin, following the Australian federal government's move to authorize Bitcoin as legal tender.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) required for the purchase of virtual currency was officially abolished by the Australian federal government on July 1, 2017.

Engeman, director of Ainslie Gold Reserve, said he has been buying and selling bitcoin since August and his business is seeing steady demand from new and existing clients.

“We have been selling gold and silver for 43 years and those buyers are familiar with monetary assets and can see that Bitcoin has similar properties. The fundamental components of a monetary asset are the same – it must have intrinsic value and a medium of exchange. Gold and silver have been leaders in this space for 5,000 years, but Bitcoin has the same properties and there is only a total supply of 21 million Bitcoins and the creation of new Bitcoins is a very slow process.

Bitcoin in Australia

The price of Bitcoin once exceeded 6,000 Australian dollars (about 4,800 US dollars) on September 1. Although some people predicted that Bitcoin might soon exceed 6,000 US dollars, with the announcement of the suspension of ICO issued by seven Chinese ministries yesterday, the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem was in mourning, and the domestic Bitcoin has now plummeted to around 3,500 US dollars. However, before this plunge, the rise of Bitcoin once led the market value of this cryptocurrency ecosystem to exceed 170 billion US dollars.

Additionally, Bitcoin’s acceptance and use is growing in Australia, with businesses like coffee shops, real estate agencies, car manufacturers and bookstores already accepting the virtual currency as a form of payment.

Meanwhile, Chris Tippler, a high school teacher in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia, claims that he has begun teaching his economics and economics students about digital currencies, such as Bitcoin and Ripple, and how to trade them.

“I know how to invest and trade cryptocurrencies, and I’m teaching students how to read charts. I’m not sure if this is a stable component of the curriculum, but in my experience, it should be part of the curriculum.”