Retired US Congressman Ron Paul, a one-time bitcoin skeptic, called for a tax exemption on all cryptocurrencies, saying the move could prevent an economic recession.

Ron Paul, the father of current United States Senator Rand Paul, made the suggestion in a blog post entitled “Trump Is Right, the Fed Is Crazy,” where he blasted the Federal Reserve for manipulating interest rates.

“It is likely that the next Fed-created recession will come sooner rather than later,” Paul wrote. “This could be the major catastrophe that leads to the end of fiat currency.”

Paul said the only way to avoid such a crisis is to allow people to use alternative currencies and to exempt “all transactions in precious metals and cryptocurrencies from capital gains taxes and other taxes.”

Fed Manipulation Causes ‘Illusion Of Prosperity’

Paul said central banks constantly increase and decrease the money supply to control the economy by controlling interest rates.

He said the Federal Reserve’s cyclical manipulation of interest rates actually fuels recessions by creating an artificial economic boom.

“This can create an illusion of prosperity,” he wrote. “Eventually, reality catches up to the Federal Reserve-created fantasies. When that happens, there is a recession or worse, leading the Fed to start the whole boom-and-bust cycle over again.”

Ron Paul is a libertarian who opposes government intervention in the free market. This is a sentiment shared by many in the cryptocurrency community, who prefer the decentralized and unregulated market that crypto operates in.

Paul — a frequent critic of President Donald Trump — agrees with Trump’s recent criticism of the Federal Reserve.

Paul, true to form, also called for abolishing the Fed, saying a limited government and an economy that is not manipulated is better for society. “Not only should we audit the Federal Reserve, we should get rid of it!” he said.

As recently as December 2017, Ron Paul was a bitcoin skeptic and staunch advocate of the gold standard, as CCN.com has reported. At the time, Paul expressed surprise that an informal Twitter poll revealed that more than half of his Twitter followers would rather invest in bitcoin than in gold.

A wealthy person wants to gift you $10,000. You get to choose in which form you'll take the gift. But there's a catch: You must keep the gift in the form that you choose, and you can't touch it for 10 years. In which form would you take the gift? — Ron Paul (@RonPaul) December 5, 2017

“Bitcoin is very exciting, and it’s booming, but [bitcoin investors] don’t have a long-term perspective,” Paul said at the time. “What’s it going to be like in 10 years? Nobody knows. But we have a pretty good idea of where gold will be, in a general sense.”

Paul has since changed his outlook on crypto, and now says he believes that bitcoin and a gold-backed currency can co-exist in a free society.

Ron Paul’s son, Senator Rand Paul, accepted bitcoin contributions when he ran for president in 2016, as CCN.com reported. He lost the election but made history for becoming the first US presidential candidate to accept bitcoin to fund his campaign.

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