It’s incorrect to regard Bitcoin as the preserve of criminals

The online cryptocurrency Bitcoin was in the news recently when, as part of a CAB investigation into the sale and supply of drugs, a man was made to forfeit Bitcoin worth €52m by the High Court.

Bitcoin is just one of several types of cryptocurrency which are widely used to make payments online.

You can even find Bitcoin ATMs in many countries including Ireland.

Bitcoin is a bearer document for the digital age and can be compared to the most familiar bearer document, a euro note. A euro note has value because a bank has issued it, and its value is attributable to the person holding it. If you lose or forfeit the euro note, you lose the value. If, like the man in the High Court last week, you lose or forfeit digital access to the Bitcoins you own, you lose that value too.

That simplicity also extends to the way Bitcoin investments are taxed. It is treated much like any foreign currency once you get past its digital mystique. When you use euro to buy foreign currency, say US dollars,…