Who owns Bitcoin?

[Wapinter]

Bitcoin is invented by Satoshi Nakamoto but it is common knowledge that his identity is not known.If there arise any dispute related to bitcoin or its ownership,how would it be settled by court of law or in other words who is the legal owner of bitcoin?

[Blind Legs Parker]

Bitcoin doesn't care about laws. All it cares about is ethics.

[CryptoJeweler]

Bitcoin is invented by Satoshi Nakamoto but it is common knowledge that his identity is not known.If there arise any dispute related to bitcoin or its ownership,how would it be settled by court of law or in other words who is the legal owner of bitcoin?

Hi Wapinter,

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.

Please view below useful link.

1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_bitcoin_by_country

Congressional Research Service
=========================

2)https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43339.pdf

Thank you
CryptoJeweler

[twister]

Bitcoin is invented by Satoshi Nakamoto but it is common knowledge that his identity is not known.If there arise any dispute related to bitcoin or its ownership,how would it be settled by court of law or in other words who is the legal owner of bitcoin?

The legal owner of any bitcoin is the person holding the private key of the address which contains those bitcoins. That's it.

Don't need court or anyone else to decide that.

[Amph]

there is no legal owner of bitcoin that's the beauty, bitcoin is not the owner only the creator, which mean nothing in the end

and those 50 coins in the first block are not spendable anyway

[AgentofCoin]

Bitcoin is invented by Satoshi Nakamoto but it is common knowledge that his identity is not known.
If there arise any dispute related to bitcoin or its ownership,
how would it be settled by court of law or in other words who is the legal owner of bitcoin?

As others have said, it is irrelevant that Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin. He is not the owner.
If he patented it or it's systems, then yes, it would actually hold some weight in courts with ownership.

If there arises a concern in court of any ownership of specific coins, the way that bitcoin is designed is that
whoever has control over the private key to that specific address, is the owner of those specific bitcoins.

The court would not be needed to determine who "rightfully owns" the coins,
since you either control them or you do not.

In law, the court is not needed to determine who "rightfully owns" the money in a bank account,
unless it is a joint account shared between two parties (husband & wife).
In the event of a joint account, different determinations are applied to divide funds.

[Wapinter]

Bitcoin is invented by Satoshi Nakamoto but it is common knowledge that his identity is not known.
If there arise any dispute related to bitcoin or its ownership,
how would it be settled by court of law or in other words who is the legal owner of bitcoin?

As others have said, it is irrelevant that Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin. He is not the owner.
If he patented it or it's systems, then yes, it would actually hold some weight in courts with ownership.

If there arises a concern in court of any ownership of specific coins, the way that bitcoin is designed is that
whoever has control over the private key to that specific address, is the owner of those specific bitcoins.

The court would not be needed to determine who "rightfully owns" the coins,
since you either control them or you do not.

In law, the court is not needed to determine who "rightfully owns" the money in a bank account,
unless it is a joint account shared between two parties (husband & wife).
In the event of a joint account, different determinations are applied to divide funds.

Does it mean anyone can use bitcoin name and its symbol for any commercial and non commercial purpose without the fear on being sued?

[AgentofCoin]

...

...

Does it mean anyone can use bitcoin name and its symbol for any commercial and non commercial purpose without the fear on being sued?

Yes. You can use the name (Bitcoin/bitcoin) and symbol (BTC) anyway you wish.

[SebastianJu]

Bitcoin doesn't care about laws. All it cares about is ethics.

Though bitcoin could take real damage from some country allowing some company to trademark bitcoin or something similar. They could block the use or charge fees for it. Of course people could still use it but not publicly in that country.

[bitbunnny]

Nobody ows the Bitcoin and nobody controls it. Not in a sense of one central body or institution.

[RealBitcoin]

who is the legal owner of bitcoin?

me, becauuse i own a part of it, if you also own some of it, then you are also owner.

[JustDie]

who is the legal owner of bitcoin?

me, becauuse i own a part of it, if you also own some of it, then you are also owner.

im the owner to ? lol 

[RealBitcoin]

who is the legal owner of bitcoin?

me, becauuse i own a part of it, if you also own some of it, then you are also owner.

im the owner to ? lol 

if you have bitcoin, then yes.

Bitcoin is a corporation, and every bitcoin owner is a shareholder.

[calkob]

Bitcoin is invented by Satoshi Nakamoto but it is common knowledge that his identity is not known.If there arise any dispute related to bitcoin or its ownership,how would it be settled by court of law or in other words who is the legal owner of bitcoin?

You need to read abit more, bitcoin is owned by no one and cant be controlled by anybody apart from those who use it.  Even if Satoshi came back tomorrow, he cant control and dosnt own it either.

[Amph]

who is the legal owner of bitcoin?

me, becauuse i own a part of it, if you also own some of it, then you are also owner.

im the owner to ? lol 

if you have bitcoin, then yes.

Bitcoin is a corporation, and every bitcoin owner is a shareholder.

bitcoin a corporation? never heard of a decentralized corporation, bitcoin is monetary system and nothing else

[European Central Bank]

Five or six guys in China who are told what to do by some pointy beards in the US?

[kartel616]

all the people who have bitcoin is owner bitcoin. Satoshi is founder.

[TastyChillySauce00]

nobody owned it, it's a cryptocurrencies,if fiat owned by government and distributed to its civillian,bitcoin firstly created by satoshi nakamoto and distributed to the users,bitcoin function near to fiat because it's currency

[SebastianJu]

Bitcoin belongs to its users, which are we. We own the system and not much can be done to stop bitcoin. Not from the inside nor the outside. It probably is the first currency that is owned by no one. Except maybe shell money on some islands.

[TommyBitcoin]

From a perspective of someone living in the U.S. The bitcoins or fraction of bitcoin you own are yours.  You can do whatever you want with it as long as what you're buying/selling is not illegal.

It is the same as U.S. fiat: you can take a dollar and light it on fire, and it is legal (as long as you don't cause a forest fire). 

So far, in the U.S., it is mostly legal to buy and invest (check with state laws first).  When it comes to selling, however, it becomes a gray area in a couple of ways:

1)  How is it taxed? I believe any profit is taxed as capital gains.  But what if you trade bitcoins for a living?  Do you have to then pay income tax?

2)  What kind of licensing do you need?  MSB, MTL?  None?  Based on my own forum reading on trading sites, it seems as though there is no clear answer.  Traders are currently on the bleeding edge of owning to selling, then back to owning and back to selling, and on and on. 

I think pending and future litigation will determine who owns bitcoin, and after you've owned and either spent or resold, what kind of taxes can be levied on it.