The Rules of The New Money | Part Five

PROPERTY EVERY TIME YOU SPEND IT | When Buying Coffee Becomes a Taxable Event

Series Thesis | The Rules of The New Money

Every civilization eventually reaches moments when its institutions must confront realities they were never designed to govern. The printing press challenged the Church. The automobile reshaped cities. The Internet transformed communication. Today, bitcoin and digital assets are forcing America to reconsider some of the most fundamental questions about money, property, privacy, sovereignty, and the role of government itself. This series is not about politics, nor is it intended to be a collection of legislative updates that will soon become outdated. It is an exploration of something much deeper: how a free society governs an entirely new monetary architecture while preserving the principles that allow human flourishing. As Washington debates the future of digital assets through legislation like the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act, we will step back from the headlines to examine the larger story through the lenses of Scripture, history, the American Founding, and biblical stewardship. Because the most important question is not simply whether America will regulate digital assets. It is whether we can build rules worthy of the monetary transformation now unfolding before us.

Imagine walking into a coffee shop and ordering a cappuccino.

You tap your phone, send a few thousand satoshis, thank the barista, and continue with your morning. The transaction feels no different from using a debit card. Yet somewhere inside the Internal Revenue Code, something far more dramatic has occurred.

You did not merely buy coffee. You disposed of property.

Under current federal tax law, bitcoin is treated as property rather than currency. When you spend it on goods or services, the government views the transaction as though you first sold a portion of an investment and then used the proceeds to make the purchase. You must determine which bitcoin units were spent, when they were acquired, what they originally cost, what they were worth at the moment of payment, and whether the resulting gain or loss was short-term or long-term.

All before the foam disappears.

Suppose someone purchased bitcoin years ago when each coin was worth $10,000. Today, a small portion worth $6 is used to buy coffee. That portion may have originally cost less than one dollar. The difference represents a capital gain. The tax itself may be tiny, but the taxpayer is still expected to calculate it, document it, and eventually report it.

One coffee is manageable. Fifty purchases become inconvenient. Thousands of small transactions become an accounting system masquerading as a payment network.

This is one reason bitcoin has developed more rapidly as a store of value in the United States than as an everyday medium of exchange. The obstacle is not simply volatility, merchant adoption, or transaction speed. It is that the tax code treats spending bitcoin more like selling stock than handing someone cash. A nation cannot seriously encourage the use of digital money while requiring citizens to become part-time forensic accountants every time they use it.

The problem has become more visible as federal reporting requirements expand. Beginning with 2025 transactions, certain custodial brokers must report digital-asset gross proceeds on the new Form 1099-DA. Basis reporting applies to certain covered transactions beginning in 2026. This may improve compliance and give taxpayers better records, but it does not change the underlying rule. Spending bitcoin remains a disposition, even when the amount is small, the purpose is personal, and the economic gain is measured in pennies.

Washington is beginning to recognize the absurdity.

In June 2026, the House Ways and Means Committee held a legislative hearing devoted to digital-asset taxation. One proposal, the Less Tax Paperwork for Digital Asset Owners Act, would exempt gains or losses associated with certain network fees of $10 or less. It would also simplify accounting for widely traded digital assets and create more practical tax treatment for qualifying U.S. dollar stablecoin transactions.

These are meaningful steps, particularly because even paying a blockchain network fee with a digital asset can currently constitute a reportable disposition. But the proposal does not create a broad exemption for ordinary bitcoin purchases. The person buying a $6 coffee would still face the same basic tax treatment unless Congress adopts a wider de minimis rule.

A true de minimis exemption would establish a modest threshold beneath which personal digital-asset transactions would not trigger capital-gains recognition. Foreign currency already receives a limited version of this treatment for certain personal transactions. The principle is straightforward. The government should not impose a compliance burden wildly disproportionate to the revenue being collected.

Critics reasonably warn that any exemption must be designed carefully. A generous threshold could be divided across repeated transactions, used to disguise investment activity, or exploited by sophisticated traders claiming personal use. Tax rules should not become invitations to avoidance simply because the underlying technology is innovative.

But there is a difference between preventing abuse and making ordinary use practically impossible.

Jesus confronted religious leaders who had become skilled at multiplying rules while losing sight of the purpose beneath them. He told them they had neglected “the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness.” Christ was not dismissing obedience. He was exposing what happens when technical compliance becomes detached from wisdom.

Tax law requires the same discernment.

Taxes fund legitimate functions of government. Citizens should pay what they lawfully owe. Jesus Himself taught His followers to render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Yet Caesar should not require a ledger entry, cost-basis calculation, holding-period analysis, and capital-gains report because someone bought lunch with six dollars of digital property.

The Founders also understood that taxation was never merely about the amount collected. It was about representation, legitimacy, administrative power, and the relationship between government and citizen. The cry that helped ignite the Revolution was not “No taxes under any circumstances.” It was a protest against taxation detached from accountable government.

Today’s question is less dramatic, but the principle remains. A tax system should be understandable enough for an honest citizen to obey without hiring an expert to interpret every ordinary act.

Bitcoin reveals an inconsistency America must eventually resolve. If it is only property, then spending it will remain cumbersome. If it is capable of functioning as money, the law must recognize that monetary use without abandoning appropriate taxation of genuine investment gains.

Until then, bitcoin may move across the world in minutes while its owner spends April explaining a cappuccino to the IRS.

Kingdom Principle 👑

Righteous administration must preserve both accountability and proportionality.

God commands honest weights, truthful records, and faithful payment of what is owed. But Scripture also condemns leaders who place heavy burdens upon others without wisdom, mercy, or justice. Rules may be technically consistent and still become practically unreasonable when the burden of compliance overwhelms the significance of the act being regulated.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we should honor lawful tax obligations without pretending every law is perfectly designed. Kingdom stewardship does not seek clever ways to conceal what is owed. It also does not remain silent when outdated rules discourage honest participation, create unnecessary confusion, or place disproportionate burdens upon ordinary people.

Prayer 🙏

Heavenly Father, You are a God of truth, order, justice, and mercy. Teach us to become faithful stewards who keep honest records, pay what we lawfully owe, and refuse every temptation to deceive.

Give wisdom to the lawmakers and officials responsible for modernizing our tax code. Help them distinguish genuine investment gains from ordinary acts of exchange. Protect the public from tax evasion while protecting honest citizens from unnecessary complexity and disproportionate burdens.

Give us discernment as we use bitcoin and every other resource You place into our hands. May we never pursue innovation merely for convenience or wealth, but always ask whether it advances freedom, responsibility, generosity, and human flourishing.

Keep our hearts free from both greed and resentment. Remind us that everything we possess belongs ultimately to You, and that our greatest treasure is found not in any currency, but in Jesus Christ.

In Jesus’ name, Amen. 🙏📖⚖️☕₿🧾🏛️🕊️👑