[2016-08-23] Florida Court: Bitcoin Is Not “Money”

[CrimBit]

Finding that Bitcoin is not “the equivalent of money,” a Florida court recently dismissed charges against Michell Abner Espinoza in connection with the sale of Bitcoin to an undercover detective.

According to the order granting the motion to dismiss, Mr. Espinoza was arrested in 2014 after selling Bitcoin on three separate occasions to an undercover officer. Mr. Espinoza was arrested during the fourth and final transaction. (The sting was the result of a joint effort involving both the Miami Beach Police Department and the United States Secret Service’s Miami Electronic Crimes Task Force.) In connection with the sales of Bitcoin, Mr. Espinoza was charged with one count of unlawfully engaging in the business of a money services business and two counts of money laundering.

http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=d18cd662-456a-4e93-baa0-4bbd44cd9fb3

[1Referee]

Finding that Bitcoin is not “the equivalent of money,”

This part made me laugh quite a bit. Till this day it still surprises me how ignorant people, governments, etc, are. Bitcoin is basically whatever you want it to be, but it does everything fiat money does, so how is it not an equivalent?