FinCEN addresses Bitcoin

[DeathAndTaxes]

FinCen keeping lawyers employed since 1972.

The annoying thing isn't the compliance it is the impossibility of compliance.  FinCEN doens't even know what the answer is.  Anyone who has actually read the regs on money transmitter can probably spot a whole host of areas where they simply don't apply to a "virtual currency exchanger". FinCEN can't by fiat give itself oversight authority over a new class of MSB (which is what virtual currency exchanger should be) so it is trying to force a round peg into a square hole.

Fun game to play.  Call FinCEN hotline with a list of six questions about the (in)applicability of money transmitter regs on virtual currency exchanger.  Record the answer.  Call again and get six new answers. 

If FinCEN doesn't know what companies should do how can companies know.  How can a lawyer provide counsel when the regulator doesn't even know how they intend to regulate.

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[tytus]

Of course asking FinCEN or a lawyer will not solve our problems. Let's assume they posted the guidelines as a call for help :-) Let's tell them that we are willing to help :-)

[BitcoinINV]

I think they are looking at miners like the are a Automated Clearing House type deal.

[tytus]

We are planning to deploy a large mine in US. To be compliant with FinCEN we have to generate only empty blocks with no transactions :-) How stupid is that :-)

[marcus_of_augustus]

Of course asking FinCEN or a lawyer will not solve our problems. Let's assume they posted the guidelines as a call for help :-) Let's tell them that we are willing to help :-)

Or you could grow a spine and shape the type of govt. you want ... not let the govt shape you.

The Bank Secrecy Act is/was an abomination when it was introduced and has only ever gotten worse with amendments and enforcement.

Go to the root of the problem, don't try putting layers of FUD on top of fail.

Bitcoin highlights major constitutional weaknesses in both the BSA and the Federal Reserve Act (both written by/for the bankers). Ask your elected legislature to address those issues before asking the enforcement branch to work with unworkable laws ... or you will just get the "War on Alcohol/Drugs/Guns" fiascos all over again, or let's just call it the "War on Money" and get started.

FinCEN is not the answer, they are the problem, trying to make money an enforcement tool is compromising money the economic tool. Unless you are okay using inferior monetary systems.

[TheButterZone]

Tyranny does not go quietly into the night. The ATF has had decades to be liquidated for unconstitutionality. It hasn't. Neither will FinCEN.

[Monster Tent]

Would they consider BFL a giant money laundering operation ?

[tytus]

http://www.fincen.gov/fromHome/openGov.html

under FinCEN's Commitment to Open Government :: Participation

Comments on Regulatory Proposals: Public comments received electronically or through the U.S. Postal Service sent in response to a "Notice and Request for Comment" will be made available for public review as soon as possible on Regulations.gov. All comments received may be physically inspected in the FinCEN reading room located in Vienna, VA. Reading room appointments are available weekdays (excluding holidays) between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., by calling the Disclosure Officer at (703) 905-5034 (not a toll free call). FinCEN posts links to all comments received on pending and past regulatory proposals.

... http://www.fincen.gov/statutes_regs/frn/pdf/OP-1445++Joint+NPRM+BSA+definitions1.pdf [we missed the deadline]

Public Hearing: On July 9, 2012, FinCEN announced an opportunity for members of the public to participate in the policy-making process and provide their collective expertise and experience. FinCEN has announced the first in an intended series of public hearings to continue gathering information on its Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on Customer Due Diligence (CDD) Requirements for Financial Institutions, published in the Federal Register on March 5, 2012. FinCEN has invited various components of the law enforcement and regulatory communities to participate. In addition, FinCEN has invited other interested parties, including industry representatives, to attend and/or provide comments at this first public hearing, to be held on July 31, 2012 at the U.S. Department of the Treasury building in Washington, D.C. FinCEN has also provided information about how to submit comments at and/or attend the hearing.

Ok, we are late here too, but they still need us :-)