The US Treasury Department is now sending coronavirus stimulus payments to eligible US residents, but some recipients are apparently sending the money straight to their crypto portfolio.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong says the leading California-based exchange is seeing a sudden spike in the number of people depositing exactly $1,200, the same amount of money that the US government is giving citizens to help them buffer the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, several posts have hit the front page of the Bitcoin subreddit from traders claiming they quickly converted their government checks to BTC.
Qualified Americans can receive up to $1,200 of stimulus payment depending on their income. House Democrats Tim Ryan and Ro Khanna are now proposing a new bill that would increase the amount of relief cash payments to $2,000 per month until the economy returns to pre-crisis level.
“As millions of Americans file for unemployment week over week, we have to work quickly to patch the dam — and that means putting cash in the hands of hard-working families.”
The new proposal also re-introduces the digital dollar, which would be a central bank-controlled version of the US dollar.
The proposed law would also create a digital wallet as a means to pay individuals and businesses affected by the coronavirus-induced financial crisis.
Featured Image: Shutterstock/Brandon Bourdages