An incoming Senator believes bitcoin is a better store of value than paper money and plans to...

This is the problem I have with all politicians. They make statements on things they really have no idea what they are talking about, but a lobbyist or friend told them this is a great thing so they parrot it. Bitcoin is WAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYY to volatile to use in government, and it isn't backed by anything. It was just a couple of years ago when a ton of coins went missing...

For individuals, it may be a better option; our nation is a different matter.

The good qualities of BitCoin and msot other cryptocoins is that only a finite amount are produced, in BitCoin's case, 21 Million, and in many cases, "coins" are "burned" in order to increase value. Those coins are never replaced. Coins may "fork" which gives holders of that coin a certain amount of the new forked coin. Bitcoin and other cryptos are largely untraceable, unless you have some pretty sophisticated computer hardware with a lot of computing power and RAM. Suffice it to say that the Army's encryption standards are infantile compared to cryptos.

As LT Brad McInnis noted, yes, BitCoin and other cryptos tend to swing wildly in value, and can be affected by "whales" who buy and sell millions of coins, thereby swaying the short-term value of a particular crypto. Also, yes, millions of Bitcoin have indeed gone missing, the most notable was an early adopter who trashed his computer whose hard-drive had tens of thousands of Bitcoin on it. At the time, Bitcoin was nearly worthless, but today, those Bitcoin would be worth millions of dollars. So those Bitcoin are out of the system, never to be found. But that is a reason that makes Bitcoin so valuable; because there is a finite supply, and Supply & Demand applies.

I personally have invested in Electroneum, the UK's first cryptocurrency, which actually DOES something, and is being used in underdeveloped nations as currency, mainly for mobile phone payments, and other services. It is also the basis for a peer-to-peer task system where you can post a task you want done, and the price you are willing to pay (in Electroneum) and others may accept the task and be paid in the same coin. Many businesses have adopted the coin as standard payment. It too, has created a finite number of coins, 21 Billion, so coins are more aligned with the "dollars and cents" model that we are all accustomed to. Bitcoin values have 8 places behind the decimal. Way too complicated for everyday use.

National banks are looking into using cryptocoins, but IMHO it destroys the purpose of cryptos; to be independent of government interference, an alternate form of currency that is controlled only by those who actually use it. The current Coronavirus cover is being used to get Americans away from cash, which, sort of like cryptos, cannot be easily traced, in favor of the "Digital Dollar" which will be entirely controlled by the US Government. So with the Digital Dollar, your access to money can be suspended or totally cut-off if the gov't so desires. NOT a good idea. Keep the gov't out of cryptos and related virtual currencies.