Any possible legal issues of doing transactions with cryptocurrencies?

[mithuvihanga]

I'm new to cryptocurrencies and I would like to know, is there any possible legal issues with cryptocurrencies?  I'll appreciate your valuable ideas and please help me.

[Pmalek]

I'm new to cryptocurrencies and I would like to know, is there any possible legal issues with cryptocurrencies?  I'll appreciate your valuable ideas and please help me.

That would depend on where you live. Since this section is only for Bitcoin discussions I will focus only on Bitcoin.

If you live in any of the following countries you should be careful with using Bitcoin as it is illegal.
Ecuador, Bolivia, Algeria, Morocco, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam.

In the below countries it is not illegal but it is either restricted or non regulated.
China, Egypt, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Russia

You can read more about this from the below sources:
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/forex/041515/countries-where-bitcoin-legal-illegal.asp
https://bitcoinist.com/11-countries-bitcoin-still-illegal/

[buwaytress]

I'm new to cryptocurrencies and I would like to know, is there any possible legal issues with cryptocurrencies?  I'll appreciate your valuable ideas and please help me.

That would depend on where you live. Since this section is only for Bitcoin discussions I will focus only on Bitcoin.

If you live in any of the following countries you should be careful with using Bitcoin as it is illegal.
Ecuador, Bolivia, Algeria, Morocco, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam.

In the below countries it is not illegal but it is either restricted or non regulated.
China, Egypt, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Russia

You can read more about this from the below sources:
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/forex/041515/countries-where-bitcoin-legal-illegal.asp
https://bitcoinist.com/11-countries-bitcoin-still-illegal/

Actually, the wikipedia link is quite well updated and is a good reference link, but I would always advise that you ask your local authorities first before doing anything. In general, these are the tax authorities and the business authorities. The former you always need to clarify with when filing taxes, the latter only if you're doing business with Bitcoin. In my experience, your local (municipal or city) supercedes anything, even if legally it is national law that does, and if you get clearance from your direct authority, it all works out.

Also, Saudi just this week recognised all crypto as securities - so definitely not non-regulated anymore.

[mithuvihanga]

I have a small thing to know and I hope that you will be kind enough help me to settle this matter. I read the things in the links that you sent me and I want to know a little thing about the map given in below link which you given.

https://bitcoinist.com/11-countries-bitcoin-still-illegal/

There are some countries marked as "no information" in the map. If the local authorities of that kind of country also have no clear idea about cryptocurrencies, will it be a problem to trading the cryptocurrencies? How can take a idea weather the trading cryptocurrency is legal or illegal when the local authorities also haven't clear idea about it?

Please help me to take some idea about this matter.
Thank you

[Theb]

Try finding the local board of your country here in the forum, since we don't know what country you are living in, the best people to answer your question is of course your fellow countrymen.  And don't assume that even if they have a local board here it doesn't mean that BTC is fully legal in your country so you should really ask. Other than that you could type in the google search bar : YourCountry and the word BTC/Cryptocurrency, you should get hundreds of results in there and find out whether or not cryptocurrencies has limits in your country.

[gentlemand]

"legal issues" is an extremely broad term. I've never heard of anyone anywhere being prosecuted for simply owning it or sending it to someone.

In third world dictatorships like the USA you can certainly end up in prison selling it to other people without a licence.

[olubams]

I'm new to cryptocurrencies and I would like to know, is there any possible legal issues with cryptocurrencies?  I'll appreciate your valuable ideas and please help me.

Just like others have rightly stated that depending on where you live but based on the question you asked, its likely that your country of residence have not made a definite stand on the legality in the use of crypto currencies and that is where the issue of personal initiative comes in.

One sure thing is something would ultimately be illegal whether its expressly written or not. Financing illegal activities is wrong using fiat but because there is no rule stating the use of crypto currencies does not make it acceptable. So, my advice is that you learn to conduct your activities with the current parameters of the law and you are sure to stay away from trouble.

[magneto]

I'm new to cryptocurrencies and I would like to know, is there any possible legal issues with cryptocurrencies?  I'll appreciate your valuable ideas and please help me.

It depends on where you are located and the jurisdiction that you are under.

But generally, there shouldn't be much of a risk as long as you are transacting with bitcoin only, or bitcoin for goods or services without the involvement of fiat currencies. If you are trading bitcoin with fiat currencies, especially with peer to peer platforms, you may have to check up on whether or not you need a license for that.

You may also need to check up with whether or not you'll need to pay CGT on certain transactions, even if it was just purchisang goods/services, depending on your country's definition for CGT rules, it may still constitute a capital gain.

[1Referee]

But generally, there shouldn't be much of a risk as long as you are transacting with bitcoin only, or bitcoin for goods or services without the involvement of fiat currencies. If you are trading bitcoin with fiat currencies, especially with peer to peer platforms, you may have to check up on whether or not you need a license for that.

That's the most difficult aspect, because most of the transactions happening are related to speculation against fiat, which means that most people are always on the wrong side of the fence legally. It sucks that we live in a world where this sort of extortion still happens, but it only motivates people more to stay away from centralized platforms. Everything negative can and likely will turn into something positive later on.

It wouldn't even surprise me if governments eventually will tax crypto to crypto transactions similarly to how they tax crypto to fiat transactions. If they notice that people use that as a way to avoid taxation, they'll cut through your options to still squeeze money out of your pockets. I strongly believe that we haven't seen the worst when it comes to taxation.

As governments catch up with how everything here works, they'll be more determined than ever before to make it work in their favor.

[LeGaulois]

He doesn't need a license or something because he doesn't represent an entity/company. If he isn't living in a country that banned/restricted cryptos, he is fine. A "legal issue" could be mentioned IF he is involved in some kind of money laundering because he wouldn't be able to prove the fund's origin.

His most important concerns are to keep track of his orders (buy/sell) to be able to prove the money in and money out, gains and loss. Which every one of us is doing in case we are a "victim" of an audit from our tax department.

[Harlot]

One legal issue that I come up with my mind always is the possibility of a random audit hitting you, read a lot of stories about it and most users came unprepared when it happened to them. If they notice some discrepancies with what you reported you will have a hard time proving that what you are giving is the right amount. So if you have big transactions involve with cryptocurrencies you must always record the transaction as it will be handy in the future. Also if you are purely earning from cryptocurrencies documenting all of your transaction is really an important thing to do.

[Indrawan77]

It depends on the countries where you do transaction, if its legal then you won't have any problem, but in some countries you can be send to jail to do transaction using crypto, for some countries that mark with unknown its better to ask the authority or maybe the local to get a good and reliable information, some country is not banning or rejected but its not allowed to make transaction using crypto

[KorakPawon]

I'm new to cryptocurrencies and I would like to know, is there any possible legal issues with cryptocurrencies?  I'll appreciate your valuable ideas and please help me.

The others may have said it but let me stress it once more that it will be depend on where you are. Why? because Bitcoins are not issued, endorsed, or regulated by any central bank. Instead, they are created through a computer-generated process. Knowing the country who say yes to crypto is important so you will know where and when your bitcoin legal to be used.

[Capt00]

I'm new to cryptocurrencies and I would like to know, is there any possible legal issues with cryptocurrencies?  I'll appreciate your valuable ideas and please help me.

The others may have said it but let me stress it once more that it will be depend on where you are. Why? because Bitcoins are not issued, endorsed, or regulated by any central bank. Instead, they are created through a computer-generated process. Knowing the country who say yes to crypto is important so you will know where and when your bitcoin legal to be used.

We know that there are some countries Bitcoin had not yet regulated or maybe they are not putting any laws regarding cryptocurrencies. So, the transactions may remain legal because of the transparency on the Bitcoin that we can trace on blockchain records. But as what they have said it will depend on where you live, if your local country forbids bitcoin then, you must obey the law in your place but if not you can freely use Bitcoin as well.

[Flor1982]

I'm new to cryptocurrencies and I would like to know, is there any possible legal issues with cryptocurrencies?  I'll appreciate your valuable ideas and please help me.

Check first the status of Bitcoin in your county that if Bitcoin is legal then you could join and invest any Bitcoin platform in your area but the opposite if it was declared illegal in which you might face the consequences if you will not obey your law. It would be better if your country is neutral regarding Bitcoin existence in which you could earn Bitcoin free of tax because your country did not legalize it but did not ban it.

[Mhd-Bobbi]

I'm new to cryptocurrencies and I would like to know, is there any possible legal issues with cryptocurrencies?  I'll appreciate your valuable ideas and please help me.

Although crypto is free to use, there is no legal basis for using cryptocurrency, so you are free to use it, but it all depends on each country.

[Oilacris]

I'm new to cryptocurrencies and I would like to know, is there any possible legal issues with cryptocurrencies?  I'll appreciate your valuable ideas and please help me.

Depending on which place you do live on because there are some countries which do totally ban out cryptocurrencies which its normal for you to avoid
on violating governments decisions if you don't like to get imprisoned.
Since, you have mentioned on where you do live and if you are still doubts on the words being spoken on this thread then you can find up some local lawyer on your place
and ask regarding into your concern.

[aryatrals]

"legal issues" is an extremely broad term. I've never heard of anyone anywhere being prosecuted for simply owning it or sending it to someone.

In third world dictatorships like the USA you can certainly end up in prison selling it to other people without a licence.

I have never heard of the legal issues of ownership of bitcoin in our country, but if suspicious transactions, especially those related to acts of corruption, indeed the security forces in our country are very sensitive, because there is a lot of potential for money laundering using various methods, and it is feared that bitcoin will become means to support such crimes.

[marcbitcoins]

I'm new to cryptocurrencies and I would like to know, is there any possible legal issues with cryptocurrencies?  I'll appreciate your valuable ideas and please help me.

The only legality issue that i see is if Bitcoin or the crypto currency is declared illegal in your country in which you cannot used crypto for both investments and direct spending. Every government has different stand regarding Bitcoin existence therefore you should check the status of your government to avoid any problem that may arise in the future.

[goaldigger]

I'm new to cryptocurrencies and I would like to know, is there any possible legal issues with cryptocurrencies?  I'll appreciate your valuable ideas and please help me.

Some countries are not cryptocurrency friendly so better check your local law about it. Some makes cryptocurrency a total ban and some just put some taxes on it. There are also some who just have a particular coins allowed. Its kinda bit personalized depending on the country you live at. Check it first before starting so the folllowing transactions are smooth.