In the parents defence, the tax status of crypto has nothing to do with the technical capability of using Bitcoin for trade. I think we can all agree, that if both parties are willing, I can use bitcoin to buy things.
Sure. If both parties are willing, you can also use pokemon cards to buy things. The main point of the comment is that it's not convenient and common to use crypto to buy goods and services yet.
The current desktop UX (today) of using cryptocurrency to order takeaway food from the market leading delivery platform in Germany is actually MORE convenient than Visa in my experience.
Visa: get card from wallet, type in number, type in CSC code.
But do they give you a significant discount for crypto vs. a credit card?
In the US you can get a 2% rebate on what you spend with a credit card. In effect, you are credited back most of the merchant fees baked into transactions.
In which case cash or crypto requires a >2% discount to break even.
Yes, I agree that it’s not common or convenient. But I think it was just a counter point that you can use Bitcoin for regular purchases and people do. And I don’t think tax law is going to stop these people.
I completely agree that the instances of use as currency is vanishingly small.
You can do whatever if you are willing to take the risk, but US federal tax returns are now specifically asking if you own any cryptocurrency, which seems like at least a mild threat they might come after you.
