Bitcoin News

Timothy B. Lee (@BinaryBits)’s latest post on Bitcoin explores a frequently raised topic regarding Bitcoin and the law.  Excerpts:

“Nothing like Bitcoin existed when current laws were written. A wide variety of laws regulates banks, money transmitters, currencies, and securities—but none of these categories are a good fit for bitcoins.”
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“Nikolei Kaplanov says ‘so long as you are purchasing legal things and you’re conducting yourself in a manner where you’re making regular exchanges in person or through a company online, there are no legal hurdles whatsoever.’”
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“Kaplanov said it was ‘not a laughable argument’ that Bitcoin miners are money transmitters, though he did think it was a ‘huge stretch.’”
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“Bitcoin exchanges need to register as money-transmitting services with the relevant state or federal authorities and comply with regulations governing money-transmitting services, Kaplanov said.”
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“Bitcoin products keep arriving, and if their popularity grows, states may take a more active interest in regulating the currency than they do now.”
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“Shutting down the network in one country is unlikely to have much effect. It will continue to operate in other jurisdictions, and users in the jurisdiction where the technology is banned can easily participate in Bitcoin transactions via VPN.”
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“[Kaplanov] thinks it would be a bad idea for the US government to do anything dramatic, such as try to outlaw the cryptocurrency.”

- http://bit.ly/T4c3WT
- http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=103022.0 (Further discussion on the articles)

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