You may not know this, but the federal government is not a fan of bitcoin.

In 2012, the U.S. Attorneys office asked a federal prosecutor to look into shutting down the cryptocurrency before it could take off.

But Katie Haun, the prosecutor tasked with taking down bitcoin, said there was no way for the U.S. Department of Justice to do it:

It would have been akin to saying lets go prosecute cash.

The government isnt a fan of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies because it cant regulate them.

Its attempt to halt bitcoins rise failed then. And just as President Donald Trump aimed his 2021 budget at stymieing bitcoin, it will fail again.

One reason bitcoin got so popular wasnt because hackers working nefariously in their dark basements wanted to buy things on the darknet.

Computer operators wanted a way to grow their wealth without being over-regulated by the government.

You need to understand that bitcoin has no central authority and doesnt run on the traditional financial system.

It runs on a voluntary network of thousands of computers around the world.

Governments have no way of shutting down this network without shutting down the entire internet and keeping it off.

And thats just not going to happen.

When bitcoin was first introduced to the currency market in 2014, it was slow to take off.

A lot of that was because investors had no idea what to make of it.

In 2017, however, the price of bitcoin skyrocketed from $1,000 in January to near $20,000 in December, buoyed by bullish investor sentiment.

The 1,800% jump came despite the governments best efforts to crack down initial coin offerings (ICO) and reject a cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund (ETF).

A main reason is that investors saw bitcoin like gold a good safe haven against stock market fluctuation and the devaluing of the U.S. dollar.

That will play a part in bitcoins next rise.

As you can see in the chart above, the price of bitcoin jumped significantly:

The current price trend shows another jump on the horizon.

Earlier this year, bitcoin tested a recent low around $5,000 in February. Since then, it has risen 80% to come close to the $10,000 mark.

The big reason: stock market volatility.

Market indexes dropped more than 36% in March, pushing investors into safe havens such as gold and bitcoin.

And that volatility isnt going away.

But there are more reasons bitcoin is a good investment now and in the future.

Just like in 2012, the government is taking aim at cryptocurrencies.

All because it cant control them.

In his 2021 proposed budget, Trump proposed moving the Secret Service back to the Department of the Treasury. The idea is to use the Secret Service to investigate how cryptocurrencies are used by criminal organizations.

But bitcoins rise is not because of some underworld criminal organization using it. Its because of what the government has already done.

You see, the Federal Reserves recent action namely printing more money to help the economy devalues the U.S. dollar.

When the dollar loses value, you lose buying power.

But with bitcoin, you arent subject to unsound banks, heavy regulations or even theft.

And since we are in the midst of an economic crisis, the value of bitcoin is only going to rise.

As an investor, now is a good time to own bitcoin.

It protects you against market volatility as well as stringent government oversight.

Original post:

Feds Couldnt Stop Bitcoin in 2012 and They Cant Today - Money and Markets