Transferring money to someone in another country can be a long, expensive and risky process. The funds exchange hands multiple times before arriving at their destination, and with each exchange comes delays, more fees, and a higher risk that the funds will be misrouted or end up in the hands…
Report Analyzes New “Pieces to the Puzzle” of Causes Behind Mt. Gox Collapse On February 14, 2015, WizSec, a Bitcoin security firm based in Tokyo, published a report that claims to shed new light on the causes for the infamous 2014 collapse of the bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox. It has…
In our prior post New York’s BitLicense: Important Revisions Part 1, we presented some important revisions to the prior proposed BitLicense. This post continues that discussion. Two-Year Transitional License In a nod to the difficulties of starting up a company, the new BitLicense permits the Superintendent to grant, at his…
The curtain has been drawn back, and the much-anticipated BitLicense revisions stand ready for comment. As 2014 drew to a close, Benjamin Lawsky, Superintendent of New York’s Department of Financial Services (DFS) gave a small peek behind the curtain of pending revisions. Now, in 2015, the updated BitLicense comes revised…
On December 12, 2014, in Treasury Decision 9706 (the “Treasury Decision”), the IRS and the Treasury Department finalized the regulations under Section 6038D of the Internal Revenue Code (“Code”). With respect to digital currencies, the Treasury Decision notes that the IRS is considering the proper treatment of digital currencies under…
On January 20, 2015, President Obama delivered his State of the Union address: an annual report on the condition of our country. Overall, the President concluded, while it is still “a hard time for many,” “the shadow of crisis has passed, and the State of the Union is strong.” In…
While some regulators are struggling to fit bitcoin’s innovative peg into preexisting holes—is bitcoin a currency or a commodity or something else entirely?—the novelty of digital currencies falls squarely within the regulatory purview of some agencies. One example is the Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, the unit within…
In the effort to bring digital currencies into the mainstream, companies are making concerted efforts to let consumers know that they are operating by the rules and with regulators’ blessings. One such company recently announced a bitcoin exchange. The exchange allows users to trade bitcoins and plans to first focus…
After months of doubts regarding the viability of Bitcoin due to concerns on everything from fraud and security to the currency’s volatility, the virtual currency recently got a healthy boost to its legitimacy. Last week, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss announced plans to develop a fully regulated Bitcoin exchange based in…
Anyone unhappy with New York’s proposed digital currency regulations, should head West, at least for now. As of January 1, 2015, the use of digital currencies (along with reward cards, virtual tokens, and other forms of payment most people likely never knew were of questionable legality) is legal in California, and…