Bitcoin Forum

In Michigan local bitcoins charged with unlicensed money transmitting. A regular user of Localbitcoins (a facilitator of exchanging fiat currencies for bitcoin) was formally charged in United States District Court. The Michigan man is accused of violating money transmitting business licensing requirements. 

If you are doing business why would you not have all the proper licenses to operate.....

It is not so clear. Another court in the US ruled that bitcoin is not money. If it is not money, maybe he did not think that he needed a license for money transfer.

Well, this is the problem when there is no clear-cut law specifically made to cover cryptocurrency. Due to lack of legal definition and parameters in which to work on, one can be subject to law violations because the person has his own opinion based on what he thinks and not what can be established by the government. I am hoping that the man can be vindicated later due to lack of jurisprudence on the matter. He should get a better lawyer that can represent him in the case.

I think it is foolish to start any business if you do not understand the laws. When ATM buys or sells bitcoins they interact with Fiat. Such operations necessarily require licensing. That is why it is important so we can make purchases with bitcoin. We will always be under the gun if we use Fiat.

We have to remember that the fiat money is always under the authority and control of the government thru its financial agencies and when there is a transaction between cryptocurrency and the fiat money all things have to be done properly otherwise there is a big possibility that those involved in the transaction can be facing some charges based on the existing laws as there is still no defined parameters which we have to worked on. Those living under the power of Uncle Sam should always be careful as the government is good in finding out violators, unlike if you are living in a less-developed third-world countries where laws tend to be lax and the government lacks the technology and manpower to trace all transactions as they are relying more on declarations and reports from the banks. This story is a big lesson to us all never to let our guard and vigilance be overtaken by the government as they can just also be doing their jobs.

Because most people aren't selling coins through a registered business.
If you have some stuff you want to sell, like old coins or stamps that your grandfather had collected, worth a lot of money. Do you set up a business and register yourself as a coin/stamp trader. Most people don't. They just get adds online to FB, craigslist or whatever and await someone to show up with the money.

Exactly. But even if you DID register as a business, maybe you thought that bitcoin was not money (based on a previous court case), and so you still ran afoul of some money laundering law.

people arent taking this shit seriously, because the government didnt send strong enough signals in the beginning. at first they kind of ignored btc; there were aware of the criminal aspects of the sphere but the price was entirely too low to create a serious risk of capital flight, or money laundering. we heard stirrings about tax when we breached 1k; a little bit before this it became imperative to treat this as though you are a msb, an to get all the proper lics.

notice how at this price level, we are seeing prosecution pick up, as well as rapid regulation. if we gain any more any faster, they will come down increasingly harder ;)

Well that's a dangerous precedent. How would the law differentiate between "regular" and "occasional" users? How active do you have to be to be required a permit? Saying he was running a business without any parameters is very dangerous because you could just as easily be charged just by selling there once. I hope the US government addresses this in the near future.

As for him not having licenses, most online small businesses don't. You could just as easily start a business selling on Facebook or various social media platforms and no one would bat an eyelash. If he were running his service on Facebook, would he have gotten charged? The law cannot be arbitrary.