In the last month or two alone gold has gone over $1600 and ounce before dropping under $1400 an ounce and it's currently about $1460. So then how do I as a merchant price my goods when the value of the commodity used to pay for it fluctuates by the minute?
Congress is supposed to set the value. Which raises another point, who the hell wants congress to do anything these days?
You could price it in gold weight, understanding that the height of the stack of Federal Reserve paper meant to be an equivalent will vary day by day.
For example, a pair of Nike Air Jordan shoes costs 1/10 ounce of gold. Customers can either give you a 1/10 ounce gold coin, or use an exchange machine at the counter to figure our how high a stack of paper is required that day.
By the time a Zimbabwe-style trillion dollar note is required to pay for the Air Jordans (probably around May, 2018) you'll be glad your customers are already used to gold weight pricing. :)
You wouldn't and this bill wouldn't force you to either. However if you wanted to exchange a commodity for gold, you can do so in any jurisdiction today without enabling legislation.
So what does this bill do? Nothing. Except exempt gold and silver coin dealers from state sales tax. Which is a weird thing to do.
That’s a valid concern, but it has been addressed (somehow) by the Bitcoin community, which has seen that currency swing in amounts that dwarf even the recent six-sigma moves in gold.