U.S. government to greenlight Bitcoin?

[imperi]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-18/u-s-agencies-to-say-bitcoins-offer-legitimate-benefits.html

"The Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission are telling a U.S. Senate committee that Bitcoins are legitimate financial instruments, boosting prospects for wider acceptance of the virtual currency."

"Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, is also weighing in on the hearing, saying that it has no plans to regulate the currency."

Woohoo!

[1715004405]

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[1715004405]

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[markjamrobin]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-18/u-s-agencies-to-say-bitcoins-offer-legitimate-benefits.html

"The Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission are telling a U.S. Senate committee that Bitcoins are legitimate financial instruments, boosting prospects for wider acceptance of the virtual currency."

"Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, is also weighing in on the hearing, saying that it has no plans to regulate the currency."

Woohoo!

Does this mean no federally backing for Coin Validation?

[Mike Christ]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-18/u-s-agencies-to-say-bitcoins-offer-legitimate-benefits.html

"The Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission are telling a U.S. Senate committee that Bitcoins are legitimate financial instruments, boosting prospects for wider acceptance of the virtual currency."

"Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, is also weighing in on the hearing, saying that it has no plans to regulate the currency."

Woohoo!

Does this mean no federally backing for Coin Validation?

Plans can change, and they can be lied about too.  Who knows?

[hyphymikey]

I'll wait until after the hearing to find out which way this goes.

[the_sunship]

wouldn't surprise me if a number of senators bought a truck load of coins today.....

[accord01]

Notice- federal reserve does not equal congress or any branch of the gov't

[bassclef]

Notice- federal reserve does not equal congress or any branch of the gov't

Yes but they own most of Congress and Wall Street.

[bitcon]

i trust Bernanke as far as i can throw him.  if they say they're not going to regulate it, but they can make it difficult by taking measures such as blocking swift transfers from mtgox  or other exchanges to US banks.

[Paladin69]

Misleading title.  They will most likely be tough as nails on it with regulations.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

wouldn't surprise me if a number of senators bought a truck load of coins today.....

Only if they were purchased as an investment. My money's on others purchasing bitcoins to be used to...how can I say this delicately...bribe congressman. One guy, seen in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cesSRfXqS1Q, can easily believe that bitcoins are untrackable, not aware that the ledger is publicly available.

~TMIBTCITW

[adamstgBit]

Misleading title.  They will most likely be tough as nails on it with regulations.

US regulators have said ( after the first meeting, months ago ) that they would like to give bitcoin as much space as they can in order to not drive away all the bitcoin biz and startups away from the US. US wants to be innovators and leaders like everyone else, sure they like to keep a tight grip on money lundering and such but ya, they dont HATE bitcoin.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

The Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission are telling a U.S. Senate committee that Bitcoins are legitimate financial instruments, boosting prospects for wider acceptance of the virtual currency.

The DoJ because of DPR, and the SEC because they see bitcoin signs.

Bitcoins were trading for $460 apiece today on Bitstamp, one of the more active online exchanges, where the digital money is traded for dollars, euros and other currencies. The virtual currency reached a record of $473 earlier today, and is up more than 30-fold so far this year.

Must be an old article.

[DeathAndTaxes]

Misleading title.  They will most likely be tough as nails on it with regulations.

US regulators have said ( after the first meeting, months ago ) that they would like to give bitcoin as much space as they can in order to not drive away all the bitcoin biz and startups away from the US. US wants to be innovators and leaders like everyone else, sure they like to keep a tight grip on money lundering and such but ya, they dont HATE bitcoin.

Yeah and then did the EXACT OPPOSITE.  FinCEN declaring the exchange of Virtual Currency for Real Currency to be Money Transmission is the absolute worst possible poison pill. Did you know exchanging Euros for dollars is NOT money transmission?  FinCEN threw about a decade of prior precedent away and categorized Virtual Currencies in a manner which was vague and capricious and caused untold damage and loss of US based business.  They didn't have to, they CHOSE TO DO SO.

Your first mistake was believing a regulator.  Your second mistake was not punching yourself in the face for making the first mistake. 

[adamstgBit]

Misleading title.  They will most likely be tough as nails on it with regulations.

US regulators have said ( after the first meeting, months ago ) that they would like to give bitcoin as much space as they can in order to not drive away all the bitcoin biz and startups away from the US. US wants to be innovators and leaders like everyone else, sure they like to keep a tight grip on money lundering and such but ya, they dont HATE bitcoin.

Yeah and then did the EXACT OPPOSITE.  FinCEN declaring the exchange of Virtual Currency for Real Currency to be Money Transmission is the absolute worst possible poison pill. Did you know exchanging Euros for dollars is NOT money transmission?  FinCEN threw about a decade of prior precedent away and categorized Virtual Currencies in a manner which was vague and capricious and caused untold damage and loss of US based business.  They didn't have to, they CHOSE TO DO SO.

Your first mistake was believing a regulator.  Your second mistake was not punching yourself in the face for making the first mistake.  

bitcoin exchanges need watch out for money laundering.

this is acceptable...

[Lethn]

Wait a minute... U.S Agencies and the Federal Reserve are coming to a rational and logical conclusion about something in the real world?....

Yeah, something doesn't feel right.

[DeathAndTaxes]

Misleading title.  They will most likely be tough as nails on it with regulations.

US regulators have said ( after the first meeting, months ago ) that they would like to give bitcoin as much space as they can in order to not drive away all the bitcoin biz and startups away from the US. US wants to be innovators and leaders like everyone else, sure they like to keep a tight grip on money lundering and such but ya, they dont HATE bitcoin.

Yeah and then did the EXACT OPPOSITE.  FinCEN declaring the exchange of Virtual Currency for Real Currency to be Money Transmission is the absolute worst possible poison pill. Did you know exchanging Euros for dollars is NOT money transmission?  FinCEN threw about a decade of prior precedent away and categorized Virtual Currencies in a manner which was vague and capricious and caused untold damage and loss of US based business.  They didn't have to, they CHOSE TO DO SO.

Your first mistake was believing a regulator.  Your second mistake was not punching yourself in the face for making the first mistake.  

bitcoin exchanges need watch out for money laundering.

this is acceptable...

Strawman.  FinCEN could have ruled differently and still subject exchanges to MSB requirements.

Once again.
If you run a business which accepts USD and payouts EUR YOU ARE NOT A MONEY TRANSMITTER.
If you run a business which accepts USD and payouts BTC YOU ARE A MONEY TRANSMITTER.

FinCEN "guidance" on virtual currencies directly contradicts prior guidance on "real currency" exchange.  You are a fool if you think that was done on any rational basis or to give Bitcoin space.  It was a poison pill.  Money Transmission is the single most regulated activity in the united states except maybe banking.  Some have even suggested that forming a credit union would be CHEAPER and EASIER than getting a Money Transmitter license in all the states in the US.  It is a death blow to small startups and will smother innovation and hand the market over to a handful of massive corporations.

Little side note guess how many companies have a MT license in all states (well the 48 which require them)?  Got your guess.   Did you think maybe a couple hundred? maybe a hundred? how about fifty?  Nope.  12.  That's right, a country of 300 million people and money transmission is so heavily regulated with such massive and asinine requirements that twelve whole companies have a license in all states.   None of these companies have a market cap of less than a couple hundred million USD (banks and credit card companies are exempt). That is the camp that FinCEN with the stroke of a pen through Bitcoin startups into.

Gold Dealer = subject to AML but NOT A MONEY TRANSMITTER
Check Casher = subject to AML but NOT A MONEY TRANSMITTER
Foreign Currency Dealer = subject to AML but NOT A MONEY TRANSMITTER
Bitcoin exchange/dealer = MONEY TRANSMITTER.
Bitcoin miner who exchanges BTC for real currency = MONEY TRANSMITTER

[adamstgBit]

Misleading title.  They will most likely be tough as nails on it with regulations.

US regulators have said ( after the first meeting, months ago ) that they would like to give bitcoin as much space as they can in order to not drive away all the bitcoin biz and startups away from the US. US wants to be innovators and leaders like everyone else, sure they like to keep a tight grip on money lundering and such but ya, they dont HATE bitcoin.

Yeah and then did the EXACT OPPOSITE.  FinCEN declaring the exchange of Virtual Currency for Real Currency to be Money Transmission is the absolute worst possible poison pill. Did you know exchanging Euros for dollars is NOT money transmission?  FinCEN threw about a decade of prior precedent away and categorized Virtual Currencies in a manner which was vague and capricious and caused untold damage and loss of US based business.  They didn't have to, they CHOSE TO DO SO.

Your first mistake was believing a regulator.  Your second mistake was not punching yourself in the face for making the first mistake.  

bitcoin exchanges need watch out for money laundering.

this is acceptable...

Strawman.  FinCEN could have ruled differently and still subject exchanges to MSB requirements.

Once again.
If you run a business which accepts USD and payouts EUR YOU ARE NOT A MONEY TRANSMITTER.
If you run a business which accepts USD and payouts BTC YOU ARE A MONEY TRANSMITTER.

You are a fool if you think that was done on any rational basis or to not give Bitcoin space.  It was a poison pill.

Gold Dealer = subject to AML but NOT A MONEY TRANSMITTER
Check Casher = subject to AML but NOT A MONEY TRANSMITTER
Foreign Currency Dealer = subject to AML but NOT A MONEY TRANSMITTER
Bitcoin exchange/dealer = MONEY TRANSMITTER.

well now that i have the facts....

shit US sucks balls, they lie about everything all the time! its crazy.

[Coinseeker]

Labeling it a legitimate "financial instrument", is all about laying the ground work for stiff regulation. 

[RapidCoinz]

We will have to wait until all the hearings are concluded to see which way the opinion will sway, it won't be as smooth as flicking the traffic lights from orange to green unfortunately.... 

[Loki8]

99% of politicians are corrupted and merely in search of personal gain and they have money in bank accounts abroad. Why do you think they will ban bitcoin... I am even pretty sure many of them invested in bitcoin.