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Most people have heard of Bitcoin, but few understand it completely. Watering it down to the simple basics, Bitcoin is a digital form of monetary worth. There is currently a debate on whether it is a currency, or an asset.

Bitcoin can be purchased directly, or “mined” using computers specifically designed to compute mathematical problems that eventually awards the owners of the computers with an amount of bitcoins for the computer work applied.

Many believe it is a world-wide Ponzi scheme. Those who invest in it believe it will become the preferred currency one day, as the world’s fiat currency eventually collapses under debt and endless printing of money by every nation.

The New Liberty Standard Exchange recorded the first exchange of Bitcoin for dollars in late 2009. Users on the BitcoinTalk forum traded 5,050 bitcoins for $5.02 via PayPal, making the first price mediated through an exchange a bargain basement price of $0.00099 per bitcoin. In other words, the price of a full Bitcoin was about one-tenth of one cent.

However, other than direct trading between those who had Bitcoin and those who didn’t, there was little value in Bitcoin back then, as it couldn’t be used to purchase anything. No business accepted it as payment for goods or services.

Fast forward to today, and the Bitcoin world has changed. El Salvador and the Central African Republic accept Bitcoin as legal tender. Saint Kitts and Nevis, Paraguay, Venezuela, Ukraine, and Russia have made plans to be next, though with the ongoing war between the latter two, it won’t happen for them until the war is concluded.

Some U.S. Banks and corporations now accept Bitcoin. Kiosks are available for the purchase or selling of Bitcoin using fiat currency (cash). Apps for phones are available to use Bitcoin for payment. Trading platforms are available online to purchase, sell, or hold Bitcoin.

Know that Bitcoin and other crypto tokens are not liked by the Securities and Exchange Commission. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, an opponent against crypto being traded on the stock exchanges,  gave some advice on cryptocurrency investing last Wednesday during a Twitter spaces discussion hosted by the U.S. Army.

Calling crypto a “highly speculative, volatile asset class,” Gensler stressed that most cryptocurrencies “are not complying with securities laws, but they should be.” Noting that crypto is “the Wild West.”

Janet Yellen, who serves as The United States Secretary of the Treasury, sees Bitcoin as a competitor against the U.S. Dollar.

Despite being seen as a threat to our fiat currency, and a potential target of the SEC, it could be the U.S. Government wants to get in on the move toward Bitcoin by retail investors.

Though it wouldn’t happen for many years, our own government may accept it as “official” legal tender in the future with the creation of a new subcommittee in Congress. At the very least, and likely to happen in only a few years, it would be regulated under new laws, which would give Bitcoin legitimacy that neither Gensler or Yellen want to happen.

U.S. Congress’ “first ever” subcommittee, “Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion,” has been created as part of the House Financial Services Committee. “We want to create a regulatory legal framework for digital assets … that makes America a leader from an innovation point of view, but also protects consumers and investors,” explained Congressman French Hill, who will lead the digital asset subcommittee.

The tasks of the new subcommittee include “Providing clear rules of the road among federal regulators for the digital asset ecosystem, developing policies that promote financial technology to reach under-served communities, [and] identifying best practices and policies that continue to strengthen diversity and inclusion in the digital asset ecosystem,” the House Financial Services Committee explained.

Congressman Hill (R-AR), a former community banker and U.S. Treasury official, has the necessary experience and expertise to tackle this undertaking, according to Congressman Patrick McHenry of the Financial Services Committee. “There is no one I trust more with one of my top priorities,” he emphasized.

“I look forward to working with him to provide clear rules of the road for this ecosystem that protect consumers, while allowing innovation to thrive here in the U.S.,” McHenry added, noting:

Fintech — particularly digital assets — holds immense promise as a tool to build a more inclusive financial system.

“We want innovation for fintech and the use of blockchain to be available in the United States,” he continued, elaborating:

“We want to have the U.S. to be a leader so we want to create a regulatory legal framework for digital assets, including digital payments, that makes America a leader from an innovation point of view but also protects consumers and investors.”

Considering the latest news regarding one digital trading platform, “FTX” whose founder is now facing charges of fraud after his platform went bust, some regulation would be good thing.

By the way, those 5050 Bitcoin, mentioned at the beginning of this post, being bought for $5.02, would be worth around $106,000,000 today.