The U.S. Senator from Wyoming, Cynthia Lummis, recently championed Bitcoin as a future currency in an interview. The interview started with the question, “Is Bitcoin a currency or commodity?” Senator Lummis quickly and confidently responded:
“I own [Bitcoin], a commodity. I believe it will be currency someday, but at this point of its existence, it’s a commodity just like cattle, wheat, and gold. At some point, it’s going to become a means of payment…and it’s going to happen really fast.”
To explain her confidence, Lummis referred to the launch of the Bitcoin payment protocol, Lightning Network. She noted that Bitcoin came out of a whitepaper that didn’t include means of payment. Lightning Network filled the gap by providing a payment method for Bitcoin which should lead to further innovation in the payment space.