Australian official suggests making Bitcoin legal tender in Australia. In a talk earlier in the week Chris Jordan, the Australian tax commissioner said some would like to see Bitcoin as legal tender. Currently Bitcoin does not meet the definition under Australian law, but he said that could change.

From the Guardian:

The Australian tax commissioner has left open the possibility that the digital payment system bitcoin could be considered legal tender in Australia.

Bitcoin has been described as a type of “virtual currency” where users can pay for goods and services, and can even create their own bitcoins to generate more currency.

But countries around the world have continued to grapple with whether bitcoin could be considered currency or some other form of personal property.

How bitcoin – and other cryptocurrencies – are defined will have broad ramifications for how they are handled by consumers and governments, including how they are dealt with under national taxation systems.

At an inquiry on Wednesday the Australian tax commissioner, Chris Jordan, conceded there was a push by some proponents to have bitcoin treated like money, but added it did not meet the current definition of legal tender. However he left open the possibility that this could be changed in the future.

“There’s a definition in the Tax Act of money. It’s got to be the legal tender of a country. We can’t say it’s money. If this grows more and more maybe the definition needs to change,” he said.

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