Regulation and Laws

Why the Government Interest?

Untraceable digital cash can defeat capitol control, or control of money within a
country. This can disrupt taxes and other revenue systems in a country.
Untraceable digital cash can also facilitate crimes.
By not having to have a physical access to the money it can be used by bad
actors. E.g. ransom, extortion, tax evasion, or selling illicit goods. Dark Net
Markets like Silk Road are good examples of these possibilities. For these people
it is harder to remain anonymous as time goes on, it only takes one slip for
identities to be connected.
Money laundering is a concern of governments and central banks. Anti Money
Laundering regulations are jurisdiction dependant.

AML & KYC

The goal of AML is to stop large amounts of money from crossing international
borders or moving from underground to legitimate markets without detection.
These rules are aimed at making organized crime more difficult.
An associated set of regulations Know Your Customer or KYC, require money
handling businesses to ask for and authenticate identities. Once they know who
someone is they can watch them for anomalous behavior and evaluate the risks of
that customer.
Mandatory reporting requirements mean currency transactions over a certain
threshold have to be reported to the gov and searched for money laundering
activity. These institutions also watch for and report on behaviors that appears to
be designed to defeat the rules.

Regulation
Should bitcoin be regulated, if so how and by whom? Why could be regulating
bitcoin be a good or bad idea? There are many arguments for and against bitcoin
regulation. If you go looking you are likely to find more arguments against it but
that doesn't mean there are none.
Government policy on government intervention or regulation has varied over time
and location. Regulation is a local activity, but the internet and the blockchain are
shared global networks.
Time judges some regulations as good or bad independent of any good intentions
that may have gone into their creation.

Pros of Regulation
Regulation can be designed to keep a market system from failure.
A theoretical example of this is a 'lemon market' where objects on the market
could be of differing quality but this difference cannot be gleaned by customers.
Regulation can require disclosure of products so customers can decide with full
information. A potential problem is how to be sure the regulation would be
enforced.
Another argument for regulation is price fixing, where competing businesses
decide to collude to for profit. Price fixing is illegal in most parts of the modern
world and in the US it is part of anti-trust laws.

Cons of Regulation
Regulation can stifle business by limiting options but sometimes rules are in place
for a good reason. Deregulation across industry by the Bush presidents result in
actions by businesses that were previously not allowed and have resulted in
serious and long lasting damage to ecosystems.
High start up cost raises barrier to entry, stifling innovation and new ideas.
Illogical rules; history has shown us that those that make the laws often lack a
strong understanding of the subject they are creating rules on.
Rules may favor old guard making it difficult to create new models.

Governments Talking About Regulation

2016 Japan announced it aims to increase protection for users of digital currency
by creating legal framework for regulations and by treating btc like currency.
The Brookings Institution wants to regulate bitcoin.
The Buenos Aires government coordinated with bitcoin companies to host a Latin
American Virtual Currency Forum in Argentina.
FINCEN, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, posted that companies that
use colored coins or blockchain certificates are likely operating as money
transmitters and need a license.

Regulators Discussing Regulation

FSB, the Financial Stability Board has membership comprised of bankers,
regulators and finance officials. Has agreed on framework for categorization of
parts of digital currencies, their work is to ensure the industry's rapid growth does
not pose any risks to the financial system.
The SWIFT Institution in Europe said that Bitcoin regulation in the EU was years
away.
The European Commission is presented an Action Plan intended to regulate
digital currencies.
The G7 pledged support for btc regulation.

Encryption and Digital Assets for Bad Guys

There have been talking points in the corporate media trying to related digital
currencies such as bitcoin to a tool of terrorism or used by terrorists however the
facts and analysis show no evidence of any such activity. As usual cash and bank
money was used and unencrypted communication such as facebook used to
communicate. Encryption or digital currencies were never involved.
It should be noted that encryption is analogous with freedom.

Some Rulings & Legal Decisions

Switzerland also declared that there is no VAT on bitcoin. This means bitcoin
should be treated like currency and not an exchangeable good which would be
subject to tax.
Dennis Montali, a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, ruled bitcoin and other digital currencies
are commodities in the case of HashFast Technologies LLC v Lowe.
Japan ruled that Bitcoin and similar digital currencies fulfilled the legal definition of
currency and could be treated as real money. This relates to a lawsuit and the
value claimed by users of Mt. Gox which was based in Japan.
The U.S. Treasury classified bitcoin as a convertible decentralized virtual
currency.

Some Rulings & Legal Decisions

CFTC, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, issued that bitcoin and
other virtual currencies are a commodity covered by the commodity exchange act
A California bankruptcy judge rules that bitcoin is property, not convertible
currency, for valuation purposes under fraudulent transfer laws.
NCCOB, the North Carolina Office of the Commissioner of Banks, has exempted:
digital currency miners, non-financial blockchain services, and multi-signature and
non-custodial wallet providers from the state's Money Transmitters Act.
We can see a mostly up to date list of legality by country on the wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_bitcoin_by_country

The NY BitLicense
BitLicense is a New York state only requirement for certain activities. It was filed in
July 2014, released almost a year later.
Any business that have even one customer in NY or are operating in NY, and do
any one of a number of activities related to btc would be required to get a 'bit
license.' This requires registration and fees paid to the state of NY dept financial
services. The business would also have to update the state with financial
information and follow rules. These regulations also include rules regarding testing
and backup, to ensure the safety of customer funds.
A majority of Bitcoin businesses founded these rules unacceptable most took their
business out of state or restricted access to residents.

License Approved
London, in an effort to become a hub of bitcoin and blockchain technology began
approving electronic money license for Bitcoin companies like Circle.
Circle is one of the few companies to apply for and receive a New York BitLicense
as well.
BitStamp became the first company to secure a license to exchange BTC & EUR
for all 28 members of the European Union.

Russia & Digital Currencies

Russia is big so its no surprise to hear a number of views on the subject.
The head of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin believes
that digital currency should be banned as it poses a threat to the state's monopoly
on money issue and thus can lead to the loss of state's profits.
Russia has blocked five websites tied to the "bitcoin" digital currency in an effort to
fight the growth of the "shadow economy," according to a state media watchdog.
Parts of Russia have ruled Bitcoin as a money substitute and outlawed its use.

Enforcement
There are probably governments and companies around the world that use or
work with teams that investigate the blockchain. The US Dept. of Homeland
Security has a bitcoin task force already. Interpol has used bitcoin in training
scenarios.
The EU released plans in summer 2016 to force KYC/AML upon virtual currency
providers and exchanges, the method of enforcement is yet unknown

People Getting in Trouble

Trendon Shavers who operated BS&T, Bitcoin Saving & Trust, a ponzi scheme plead guilty to one charge of security fraud
in what officials said was the first U.S. criminal securities fraud related to bitcoins. The court in September 2014 ordered
Shavers to pay more than $40 million in penalties and disgorgement. He also pled guilty in September 2015 to charges of
securities fraud for fraudulently obtaining $800,000 in bitcoin.
Ethan Burnside operated two digital currency exchanges without a license, TC Trading Corp and Litecoin Global Exchange.
He has been fined over $68,000 by the SEC.
U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York charged Robert Faiella and Charlie Shrem with selling more
than $1 million in bitcoins to Silk Road users, enabling illegal purchases. Faiella operated an unregulated exchange and
Shrem didnt fulfill KYC & AML requirements. Faiella pled guilty in 2014 and was sentenced to four years in prison and
forfeited $950,000. Shrem was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to aiding an unlicensed money
transmitting business. He also agreed to forfeit $950,000.

People Getting in Trouble

Butterfly Labs had their assets frozen and an injunction issued against their business for deceptive business practice. They
were accepting money for mine pre-orders that never delivered or did in used or broken condition.
In March 2015 Czech police arrested Tom Jikovsk and froze his assets. They suspected him to be the Sheep
Marketplace thief when he paid for an expensive house entirely in bitcoins.
Frenchman Mark Karpels was arrested and charged with fraud and embezzlement of $390 million from Mt. Gox.
Ross Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison for his role as administrator of the Silk Road website.
Former DEA agent Carl Force in July 2015 pled guilty to money laundering, obstructing justice and extortion related to the
Silk Road investigation.
Shaun Bridges, pled guilty to money laundering and obstruction of justice after diverting more than $800,000 in
cryptocurrency relating to the Silk Road investigation. He was sentenced to 71 months prison and ordered to pay about
$1.1 million.

Less or Little Blockchain Regulation

In June 2016 Together with 23 co-signatories from all major parties, Swiss member of parliament Franz
Grter filed a parliamentary motion to reduce regulatory burdens of blockchain startups by restricting the
legal definition of client deposit.
A March 2016 speech by the commissioner of the CFTC was titled Regulators and the Blockchain: First,
Do No Harm
In April 2016 The European Union should hold off for now from regulating blockchain, the technology that
underpins bitcoin, an EU parliamentary committee agreed on.
In June 2015 the Canadian Senate released a report, Digital Currency: You Cant Flip This Coin, which
gave this recommendation, The federal government, in considering any legislation, regulation and
policies, create an environment that fosters innovation for digital currencies and their associated
technologies. As such, the government should exercise a regulatory light touch that minimizes actions
that might stifle the development of these new technologies

Intellectual Property, Can you patent Bitcoin?

There have been some attempts to patent aspects of cryptocurrency systems.

The company made famous by the sidechain whitepaper stated they would
defensively patent their work, let others use it as long as they didnt abuse their
patent rights on it,

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BoE discusses blockchains with house of lords http://bravenewcoin.com/news/house-of-lords-told-bank-of-englands-digital-currency-is-some-ways-off/
Complaints on virtual currency http://coincenter.org/link/we-got-a-data-dump-of-all-the-complaints-about-virtual-currency-products-and-services-filed-with-the-cfpb
Russia allegedly says they will allow trading https://cointelegraph.com/news/russia-to-treat-bitcoin-as-foreign-currency-and-enable-trading
Gibraitar opens btc on exchange https://www.gsx.gi/article/8292/gibraltar-stock-exchange-welcomes-bitcoineti
Charges dropped against Michell Espinoza who tried to sell btc to undercover officers http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article80421072.html
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article91682102.html
Registry of BC users? https://cointelegraph.com/news/eu-to-register-digital-currency-users-record-bitcoin-transactions
Only banks http://bitcoinx.io/news/articles/the-story-of-how-a-chilean-bitcoin-exchange-lost-70-of-their-customers-due-to-a-santander-bank-blockade/
About the new AML/4AMLD in the EU http://ukcryptocurrency.com/random-musings/eu-regulation/

AML group http://www.coinfox.info/news/6106-blockchain-intelligence-elliptic-to-join-aml-alliance

http://www.americanbanker.com/news/bank-technology/lexisnexis-elliptic-want-to-make-bitcoin-safe-for-banks-1090573-1.html
Aus to regulate http://www.smh.com.au/world/australia-to-regulate-bitcoin-under-counterterrorism-finance-laws-20160808-gqnne2.html
http://siliconangle.com/blog/2016/08/10/rubbish-australia-to-regulate-bitcoin-under-money-laundering-and-counter-terrorism-laws/
Proposed Cali law https://bitcoinfoundation.org/forum/index.php?/topic/1342-help-defeat-californias-proposed-version-of-bitlicense/#entry14618
http://fintechist.com/revised-california-bill-ab-1326-makes-bitlicense-look-soft/
Cali bill stopped https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/08/california-lawmaker-pulls-digital-currency-bill-after-eff-opposition
Rus http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-currency-russia-ministry-finance-tax/
More Russia http://forklog.net/russia-abandons-bitcoin-penalization-plans/
Darknet bust http://www.newsbtc.com/2016/08/16/340000-euro-worth-bitcoin-seized-darknet-bust/
Sell only exchange opens in Rus https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/90609-2/
Analytics http://www.coindesk.com/us-government-lockheed-martin-bitcoin-analysis-tool/