2013-07-30 Digital Asset Transfer Authority Announced

[BCB]

http://info.datauthority.org/
At the forefront of emerging payments, virtual currency, and other financial technology innovations, our companies are pioneering new services with potential to reduce the friction and cost of payments substantially and make low cost payment services available to hundreds of millions of individuals and businesses around the world. To reach this potential, to inspire confidence in the services we offer, and to ensure fair and responsible treatment of consumers and merchants, we believe our industry must evolve in compliance with law and regulation. We must work proactively with regulators and policymakers to adapt their requirements to our technologies and business models. We must develop and implement common risk management and compliance standards that address the public policy concerns associated with our businesses. And our firms must build risk management and compliance programs that meet those standards.

Financial Inclusion and The Digital Asset Transfer Authority (DATA)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stan-stalnaker/digital-asset-transfer-authority_b_3673517.html
Today, a group of over 15 leaders from the emerging payment and virtual currency industry announced the formation of a Committee for the Establishment of the Digital Asset Transfer Authority. The committee seeks to foster prudent, responsible development of new technologies at the forefront of a sea change in finance that will add 2.5 billion people to the economic system in the next four years.


Don't Let Bitcoin Morph into Govcoin
http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/do-not-let-bitcoin-morph-into-govcoin-1060955-1.html
an SRO in the spirit of the National Futures Association and National Association of Realtors could be emerging for the disruptive Bitcoin cryptocurrency and other digital assets. The Committee for the Establishment of the Digital Asset Transfer Authority is set to announce its launch Tuesday in conjunction with several leading industry participants and the well-connected Promontory Group as an advisor.

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[BCB]

Please understand that the Bitcoin Foundation had taken up the mantle of standardizing and protecting and prompting the bitcoin protocol.  You can chose to use this protocol, an alt protocol or fork the code and create your own.

The Ditital Asset Transfer Authority's goal is to engage, educate and assist bitcoin business, users, regulators and legislators in understanding and fully complying with the laws and regulation of their respective countries.  Again you can chose to be a part of this effort or not. Or you can start your own effort.

However with the recent action including:

The March 18th Financial Crimes Enforcement Action Guidance (made with out a request for comments).
The May 7h inditement of Liberty Reserve and subequent seizure of affiliated domains.
The May 14 seizure of Mt Gox's assests in Veridian Credit Union by the US Department of Homeland Security
The July 23rd civil charges filed against Trendon Shavers for his bitcoin denominated ponzi scheme.

The US government and goverments around the work have clearly show that expect this new technology to exist with in the existing legal boundaries regardless of where you operate.

There are laws and regulations in each of our contrives that exist now with relation to virtual currencies regardless of what some of the geniuses on this forum thinks and there are SERIOUS consequences for not obeying these laws EVEN IF YOU ARE IGNORANT OF THEM.

The goal of D.A.T.A. is to seek clarity of these laws and regulation for the benefit of our greater community, to educate and create a dialogue with legislators, regulators and law enforcement to aid them in fully understanding and comprehending the the many beneficial aspects of this incredibly disruptive technology and ultimate engage our legislators and regulator in creating laws and regulation and better serve the virtual currency and emerging payments movement so that they foster and encourage the safe and legal growth of these technologies instead of pigeon holing this space into onerous and confusing existing relation.

D.A.T.A. is making this effort.  You obviously don't have to participate or support this effort.  

[epetroel]

The goal of D.A.T.A. is to ... ultimate engage our legislators and regulator in creating laws and regulation and better serve the virtual currency and emergency payments movement

What is this "emergency payments" movement?  This is the first I've heard of that term.  Sounds like you're teaming up with payday lenders or something

[BCB]

The goal of D.A.T.A. is to ... ultimate engage our legislators and regulator in creating laws and regulation and better serve the virtual currency and emergency payments movement

What is this "emergency payments" movement?  This is the first I've heard of that term.  Sounds like you're teaming up with payday lenders or something

AUTO CORRECT ERROR

"emerging" payments corrected.

[marcus_of_augustus]

There are laws and regulations in each of our contrives that exist now with relation to virtual currencies regardless of what some of the geniuses on this forum thinks and there are SERIOUS consequences for not obeying these laws EVEN IF YOU ARE IGNORANT OF THEM.

If only Wall St. and Washington were more respectful of the laws, your vociferous endorsements of a corrupt system might ring less hollow. In other news, the NSA is unconstitutionally collecting all of your on-line data. Maybe they need "educating" also? You'd think lawyers would have plenty to keep themselves busy besides virtual currencies in MMPOGs .... basically, get a life.

[daviducsb]

I'm glad some of the people who are not the anarchist living in mom's basement types are actually thinking pragmatically about bitcoin adoption. The Matonis article delineates firm parameters along with a willingness to engage with the people who ultimately write our laws. This is wise and forward thinking on many levels.

[Gabi]

The problem is that this can only end bad: look at how regulations fucked the current system

[marcus_of_augustus]

I'm glad some of the people who are not the anarchist living in mom's basement types are actually thinking pragmatically about bitcoin adoption.

Because all the "anarchist living in mom's basement types" think that lawyers upholding the principles of a constitutional republic is a more noble pursuit than lining up to clip the ticket through extraneous regulation on the latest innovation that the .... wait, "anarchist living in mom's basement types" have just delivered close to their greedy grasp?

[Blazr2]

I'm glad some of the people who are not the anarchist living in mom's basement types are actually thinking pragmatically about bitcoin adoption.

Because all the "anarchist living in mom's basement types" think that lawyers upholding the principles of a constitutional republic is a more noble pursuit than lining up to clip the ticket through extraneous regulation on the latest innovation that the .... wait, "anarchist living in mom's basement types" have just delivered close to their greedy grasp?

+1. very keen to the subject matter and ultimately exposing his blanket statement. Those who care more about cryptocurrency than basic liberties really need their heads checked. i for one, couldn't give a fuck either way if they regulate bitcoin. i'll just switch to some other currency as the legislators rape and turn bitcoin into the next paypal.

Ironically, those of us in the crypto world and possibly even liberatarians as a whole are just like the patriots back in 1776. we oppose the goverment taxation without representation much the way our forefathers despised the taxation of the Brits.

[BCB]

It is clear that many posting here do not understand the underlying technology of the bitcoin protocol.  I would suggest you read the Satoshi white paper (http://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf) or do some other basic research to help you better under the strengths and benefits of this disruptive technology.

To give you a simple description, it is not possible to "regulate" bitcoin as it is a distributed, decentralized, peer-to-peer, digital currency governed by the consensus of its users.  Anyone anywhere in the world with an internet connection can download the satoshi wallet or access a web wallet.  You can mine bitcoins if you like.  You can send and receive bitcoins to any other person anywhere in any amount who provides you with their public key to make that transfer.

You can also exchange many fiat currencies for bitcoins.  However this is where the friction arises.  There are existing laws and regulation regarding money and currency and the movement of these funds.  Unfortunately some governments have seen fit to try to peg the round peg of bitcoin in the the square hole of existing law or regulation and it just does not fit very well.  This is the problem we are trying to address.

If you follow the bitcoin news you know that Thailand's central bank declared Bitcoins illegal (if that is legally possible), because after learning about the technology they had no idea how it fit into any of there existing regulation.  This kills innovations and does a terrible serviced to the individuals of a society.   This is what D.A.T.A. is trying to prevent. 

I certainly understand anti-government sentiment.  I can't imagine anyone could be happy to learn of the NSA surveillance effort and the many other documented and undocumented examples of governmental over-reach.

However governments provide a multitude of benefits that we take for granted every.  Try to live a month or a week or a day of your life without government intervention.  Park your car in your garage.  Stay off any paved road.  Do not cross any bridge.  Take your children out of school.  Do not visit a hospital.  Do not use public transportation.  Turn off your computer.    Take the fiat out of your pocket and burn it. Take the clothes off your back.   Cut your self off from the power grid. Interesting thought experiment.       

I hope you better understand now how bitcoin can not be "regulated" and they while governments often make bad or unfair decision that you can not easily just pick and choose the government subsidies that you like and don't like.

Government is consensus.  Government is formed by individuals.  Individuals make decisions that affect our so cities collectively.  D.A.T.A want to engage with these individuals.  They nave names, they have families, they have children, they are humans just like the rest of us.  And when you separate the individual from the Government monster that many envision you would be surprised how effective advocacy can be.  This is how we choose to engage.

Revolutionaries die.  And when you take your bullet I'll appreciate your effort on our behalf.  And I'll remember you in 20 or 30 years when we are all living in a practical and efficient digital economy that was made possible by all of our efforts.  However  I'm a pragmatist.  I like practical application to solving a problem.  D.A.T.A.  is our effort.  What is your?

[yayayo]

More regulation? No thanks!


ya.ya.yo!

[BCB]

Actually less regulation.

More clarity and understanding.

It's simple actually.

[J603]

From the Huffington Post article:

that will add 2.5 billion people to the economic system in the next four years.

Today, we're in the midst of another exciting arrival: digital assets to enable financial inclusion for all.

Beyond that lies a future of machine to machine payments past the scope of human involvement, with over 50 billion connected devices by 2020.

Pretty ambitious. Do 2.5 billion people even have Internet access? Is DATA going to pay for those 50 billion devices? Because where are all of these statistics coming from, and what evidence do they have to back them up?

When fully established, this self regulating organization is envisioned to play an important role in creation standards and best practices for digital asset transfers, while providing a reliable solution to regulation that helps the brightest ideas flourish.

Sounds exactly like the federal reserve.


Overall, I'm not very supportive of DATA. It seems like they want some control over bitcoins which is not what should be happening. Centralization is the opposite of what bitcoins should be. Worse, they clearly don't know what they're talking about. 2.5 billion people added in four years? If 2.6 billion people don't even have access to sanitation, how are they expected to have access to bitcoins? (http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats#src1)

This seems like a power grab, backed by false promises.

[Anon136]

Try to live a month or a week or a day of your life without government intervention.

yes please! i would very much like to be able to do this!

its not as if we would just live without hospitals and roads either. we would just have to build our own hospitals and roads.

[BCB]

The Federal Reserve Prints Money.
D.A.T.A. can not mint bitcoins.


According to Internet World Stats:
There were over 2.4 Billion users as of June 30,2012
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm


2.5 Billion of the world population have no access to formal banking
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/financial_services/counting_the_worlds_unbanked

Technologies like m-pesa, kipochi and other digital currencies are now quickly changing this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-Pesa
http://www.coindesk.com/kipochi-launches-m-pesa-integrated-bitcoin-wallet-in-africa/


You guys should try to read more. The world as we know it is rapidly changing.  You can sit back and watch it change around you.  Or you get be active and try to take part in this important dialogue.  That is the intention of D.A.T.A.

[J603]

The Federal Reserve Prints Money.
D.A.T.A. can not mint bitcoins.

Why not? I can mint bitcoins. And unless I'm misunderstanding this, DATA wants to regulate the bitcoin economy to some extent and push it in the direction that it feels is best.

According to Internet World Stats:
There were over 2.4 Billion users as of June 30,2012
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

So even if every single user switched to bitcoins, that 2.5 billion number would still be wrong. Also, how are "Internet user" numbers determined. If they go by unique IP addresses, than that number could be much higher than it should be.

2.5 Billion of the world population have no access to formal banking
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/financial_services/counting_the_worlds_unbanked

4.6 billion don't have access to Internet, meaning banks are still more accessible.

You guys should try to read more. The world as we know it is rapidly changing.  You can sit back and watch it change around you.  Or you get be active and try to take part in this important dialogue.  That is the intention of D.A.T.A.

Can I actually take part in this dialogue, if DATA were to become a huge influence? Theoretically, I could email the federal reserve with my thoughts, but would they actually be acknowledged?

In summary, Bitcoin does not need regulation or influence, especially in the form of an organization made up of just a few people. The whole point is decentralization. Why does an organization need to start controlling bitcoin? The economy should be allowed to evolve freely, otherwise we might as well go back to fiat.

[BCB]

How you can make the leap from an organization like D.A.T.A. that wants to engage legislators,regulators and user in a dialogue about "best practices" as they pertain to the exchange of digital assets to "D.A.T.A. want to control bitcoin"  is beyond me.

You do understand that like other decentralized, distributed systems like tor or bittorrent no individual or group can "control" bitcoin.

DATA does not have the authority to regulate bitcoin.  But it will suggest best practices for its members as they relate the the laws and regulations of it members governments.  Bitcoin is a decentralize digital currency, you are free to use it how ever you like.  You do not have to be a member and it will have no effect on you.

I do not know if the FED would answer your email?  I have never emailed them myself.

You are currently taking part in this dialogue  about D.A.T.A. now.

That is way posting here.

I'm curious to know what the community thinks.

(I can't respond to your other questions, I'm not a statistician.  I believe the quy who wrote that article is a member of data and some of the info he writes about is not in the data statement.  You should post in the comments of the article.  maybe he'll respond to you.)  

[Equilux]

Some people here stop reading when they see "Bitcoin" and "regulation" in a sentence together, but most of the people that have posted here actually also stop THINKING when they read those words it seems. Wow.

Where Bitcoin interacts with the fiat-world there is going to be friction because of the nature of Bitcoin. Any effort to smooth this interaction should be encouraged, and I'm glad to see the first real attempt at accomplishing this. The sad thing is that so many people think this is "bringing regulation to Bitcoin", when in fact it's doing exactly the opposite.

[BCB]

Equilux,

Yes it is very difficult and frustrating when our government impedes technological innovation with legacy legislation.  So I can certainly understand everyone anger and frustration.

Look that the length Tangible Cryptology has gone to revive his once thriving business.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=224057.msg2848889#msg2848889

It is unfortunate that this is the case and this is a perfect example of penny wise pound foolish regulation driving innovation outside of US border.

Here is more interesting info on the ongoing debate.  Jim Harper's lead essay is an excellent primer.
http://www.cato-unbound.org/issues/july-2013/private-digital-economy

Dan Kaminsky, Jerry Brito, Chuck Moulton and Patrick Murck also weigh in with some terrific insight.

We are all doing what we can to find a way.
 

[marcus_of_augustus]

Government is consensus.  Government is formed by individuals.  Individuals make decisions that affect our so cities collectively.  D.A.T.A want to engage with these individuals.  They nave names, they have families, they have children, they are humans just like the rest of us.  And when you separate the individual from the Government monster that many envision you would be surprised how effective advocacy can be.  This is how we choose to engage.

Revolutionaries die.  And when you take your bullet I'll appreciate your effort on our behalf.  And I'll remember you in 20 or 30 years when we are all living in a practical and efficient digital economy that was made possible by all of our efforts.  However  I'm a pragmatist.  I like practical application to solving a problem.

I'm not sure if you know how delusionally utopian this sounds, but thanks for expounding your ideals for a pragmatic approach to what is objectively a dysfunctional government system. However, I don't suppose you will be advocating those touchy-feeling individuals in the govt. to change their draconian AML/KYC laws that shut poor people out of the banking system then ... not much advantage for lawyers in that is there?

AML/KYC and NSA are different heads of the same velvet-glove facist state beast you seem happy to blindly ignore ...