Former Republican congressman Ron Paul says he is all for bitcoin as an alternative currency, as long as everything about the controversial, virtual asset is legal.

The former Republican Congressman from Texas recently reminded CNN that when he was in Congress, he introduced legislation to allow competing currencies because he hates the current system.

Bitcoin is a virtual asset that can be used to move money around the world quickly and with relative anonymity, without the need for a central authority, such as a bank or government.

To be sure, Wall Street has taken a cautious approach to digital currencies, which are unregulated and have very volatile trading patterns.

Last month, Chicago-based derivatives exchanges Cboe Global Markets and the CME Group launched bitcoin futures, but some banks and brokerages remain reluctant to trade them, Reuters reported.

“I abhor the system that we have. The official counterfeiters are at the Federal Reserve. That is a big misstep and a big problem. So people should have the right to choose,” the Newsmax Insider says.

“They did originally when money started. Then they picked gold and silver. And the government has taken over and abused that standard and monopolized it. And destroyed it in this country,” said Paul.

“I want to legalize all of those options and what people want to use as money. But no fraud. You can't commit fraud,” the Texas Libertarian told CNN's Michael Smerconish.

Bitcoin is one of the wildest trades in the market today, delivering sharp gains and losses that defy explanation. Trading has been expensive and difficult, with brokerages offering limited access and specialist websites like Coinbase reporting regular outages. Top voices on markets from economist Robert Shiller to JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon have warned people off buying bitcoin.

As of Dec. 8, the Wall Street brokerage stopped approving new orders for the Bitcoin Investment Trust due to concerns about the "suitability and eligibility standards of this product," according to the memo sent to roughly 17,000 brokers at Merrill Lynch and Merrill Edge, a unit for clients who manage their own trades, Reuters reported.

“I think the jury's out on how far they're going to go with cryptocurrencies acting as money. Right now, I don't see it because, in my studies of monetary history, it's always been something tangible. People want something tangible,” said Paul, a frequent former GOP presidential candidate.

“Since 1971, it's not been tangible at all,” he said of the end to the gold standard.

“And that's why everything is a big bubble. As a matter of fact, the big bubble comes from quantitative easing. And all of that money out there is also participating in blowing out the price of these cryptocurrencies,” said Paul.

“And nobody has anything they can touch. Somebody has to sort it out if it ever becomes money. But I have questions because historically, money should be something that's tangible, but it should be legal, as long as there's no fraud,” said Paul.

Bitcoin was recently trading at about $14,970.

Meanwhile, U.S. fund managers are ramping up efforts to tap into the fever surrounding digital assets, and the latest planned bitcoin products could deliver some head-turning and stomach-churning price movements if they come to market.

The new idea is to build “leveraged” and “inverse” funds that would rise - or fall - twice as fast as the price of bitcoin on a given day, Reuters reported.

Direxion Asset Management LLC plans to list such products on Intercontinental Exchange Inc’s NYSE Arca exchange if U.S. securities regulators give the nod, according to a filing by the exchange this week.

In the filing, the exchange said the listing “will enhance competition among market participants, to the benefit of investors and the marketplace.”

For his part, Newsmax Finance Insider Ed Moy predicts that the volatile digital currency isn't going anywhere.

"Bitcoin is here to stay," says Moy, who served as the 38th Director of the United States Mint from 2006-2011.

"When supply is limited and demand increases, the price usually goes up. But when speculators drive the prices up, there usually is a major correction," Moy wrote in a recent Newsmax Finance blog.

"And after the correction, the true value of bitcoin will be obvious."

Ron Paul is a physician, author, and former Republican congressman. Paul also is a two-time Republican presidential candidate, and the presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party in the 1988 U.S. presidential election. His latest book is “Swords into Plowshares." For more of Ron Paul's reports, Go Here Now.

(Newsmax wire services contributed to this report).