Senator Wendy Rogers, a legislator, introduced a law in Arizona, 48th state of USA, which makes Bitcoin kind of legal money in the state. The law is unlikely to pass since the United States constitution appears to prohibit states from declaring assets to be legal currency. SB1341, a one-page bill, would change Arizona Revised Statutes to recognise Bitcoin as a form of legal money. The filing refers to Bitcoin as the “decentralised peer-to-peer virtual money on the Bitcoin blockchain.”
The US Constitution’s Article I, Section 10, Clause 1 expressly bans countries from declaring assets legal tender other than gold or silver coin. Senator Wendy Rogers, a far-right lawmaker, introduced the bill. As a result, considering her other extreme beliefs, the measure may not acquire much traction.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are considered by the IRS to be a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and/or a store of value that does not have legal tender status in any country.
In September 2021, El Salvador became the first country outside of the United States to recognise Bitcoin as legal money.
