Bitcoin has proven to be a contentious issue for regulators and law enforcers, both of which have targeted the digital currency in an attempt to control its use. We are still early on in the game, and many legal authorities are still struggling to understand the cryptocurrency, let alone make laws around it. Amid all this uncertainty, one question stands out: is bitcoin legal?
The answer is, yes, depending on what you’re doing with it.
Read on for our guide to the complex legal landscape surrounding bitcoin. Most of the discussion concerns the US, where many of the legal dramas are currently playing out. Alternatively, you can access comprehensive Regulation Report for worldwide expert commentary here.
What are the concerns about bitcoin? Government agencies are increasingly worried about the implications of bitcoin, as it has the ability to be used anonymously, and is therefore a potential instrument for money laundering. In particular, law enforcers seem to be concerned about the decentralized nature of the currency.
As early as April 2012, the FBI published a document highlighting its fears around bitcoin specifically, drawing a distinction between it and centralized digital currencies such as eGold and WebMoney. It voiced concerns that while US-based exchanges are regulated, offshore services may not be, and could be a haven for criminals to use bitcoin for illicit activities without being traced.
Bitcoin was the only form of currency accepted on Silk Road, an anonymous marketplace that was only accessible over the TOR anonymous browsing network, and which was closed by the FBI in October 2013. Silk Road was commonly used to sell goods that are illegal in many countries, including narcotics. This prompted US Senator Charles Schumer to call for the site to be shut down, explicitly linking it to bitcoin, which he called a "surrogate currency". The US Drug Enforcement Administration seized bitcoins from a US resident for purchasing a controlled substance in June 2013.
Who regulates it?
Regulators will vary on a per-country basis, but you can expect to see national financial regulators interested in bitcoin and other virtual currencies, potentially along with regional regulators at a sub-country level.
FinCEN
In the US, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which is an agency within the US Treasury Department, took the initiative. It published guidelines about the use of virtual currencies. FinCEN’s March 18, 2013 guidance defined the circumstances under which virtual currency users could be categorized as money services businesses (also commonly known as money transmitting businesses or MTBs). MTBs must enforce Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Client (KYC) measures, identifying the people that they’re doing business with.
CFTC
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CTFC), which looks after financial derivatives, hasn’t announced regulation yet, but has made it clear that it could if it wanted to.
SEC
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) hasn’t issued solid regulations on virtual currencies, but its Office of Investor Education and Advocacy published an investor alert to warn people about fraudulent investment schemes involving bitcoin. In particular, it warned of Ponzi schemes, after charging Texas resident Trendon T Shavers (aka ‘pirateat40’), founder and operator of Bitcoin Savings and Trust, with allegedly raising 700,000 bitcoins by promising investors up to 7% weekly interest.
Legislative branch
The SEC case has forced the legislative branch of government to consider bitcoin’s legal status. Shavers had claimed that he could not be prosecuted for securities fraud, as bitcoin wasn’t money. However, Judge Amos Mazzant issued a memorandum arguing that bitcoin can be used as money.
In August 2013, the US Senate wrote to several law enforcement agencies, inquiring about the threats and risks relating to virtual currency. The letters included this one to the Department Of Homeland Security, fretting about the lack of a paper trail for regulators and enforcement agencies to follow for virtual currency transactions. It requested policies and guidance related to the treatment of virtual currencies, and information about any ongoing strategic efforts in the area.
November saw responses from the various agencies. The Department of Homeland Security was the most worried about the criminal threat from illicit use of bitcoin, while the Department of Justice, the Federal Reserve and the Department of Justice all acknowledged the legitimate uses of virtual currencies. The SEC argued that “any interests issued by entities owning virtual currencies or providing returns based on assets such as virtual currencies” were considered securities and thus fell under its remit.
US states Each US state has their own financial regulators and laws, and each approaches bitcoin differently. California and New York have been particularly aggressive in their pursuit of bitcoin-related organizations, for example, while others, such as New Mexico, South Carolina, and Montana, don’t regulate money transmitting businesses. A list of state approaches to money transmitter laws can be found here.
In May 2013, California’s state financial regulator issued a letter to the Bitcoin Foundation, a nonprofit organization designed to promote bitcoin, warning it that it may be a money transmission business, and threatening people there with potential fines and jail time.
Then, in August 2013, the New York Department of Financial Services issued subpoenas to 22 bitcoin-related companies, although these letters were more conciliatory, asking for a dialogue to develop appropriate regulatory guidelines for the digital currency industry. Since then, New York has acted more positively, with the state’s Superintendent of Financial Services, Benjamin M. Lawsky, announcing that it will accept applications for digital currency exchanges. Lawsky indicated that these businesses will be regulated under new New York regulation, which he committed to having in place by the end of the second quarter of 2014.
New York's BitLicense was the first virtual currency-specific licensing regime to address bitcoin and digital currencies in the US.
Developed by the New York State Department of Financial Services and released in June 2015, the regulation stands in contrast to decisions by US states such as Texas and Vermont to apply existing financial law to the use of the technology, as well as efforts in California to amend prior legislation.
It has emerged as the most recent example of the challenge governments face when attempting to regulate an emerging technology.
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