Is it illegal for me to sell my Bitcoins?

[twister]

I was thinking of using localbitcoins, but this is all just so absurd.  Its not money, right?  Or is it?  Best of both worlds fo rthe government but they make the rules, and they are bought by the banks to make rules.  Why pay 50$ to wire money to your family over seas when you can pay 2 cents to send it with bitcoins?  I think the banks are behind all of these bizarre regulations, and they want to limit the usefulness of bitcoins. 

You're right, it is absurd when banks ask so much fee to send money oversees and bitcoins offer a very cheap alternative to do that but until it gets a legal status there will always be problems because governments don't know whether you're sending/receiving money to/from your family or you're doing money laundering, which is why if you receive or send money oversees, you might have to do a lot of explaining and/or you might get charged doing so.

[cleeon]

I think it serious to learn for Me, but in My country, Indonesia, I am sure the Govt really doesn't care much, even I don't know yet, that they are knowing bitcoin or not ?

[philipma1957]

SO basically you can't be a market maker but if you make an account at an exchange, sell it there and then withdraw the money , its legal?

Well I sell my btc only to coinbase,  I am a USA resident.

I should be safe.  But if you live in New York and do this it may not be legal.  New York has added some very strict laws.   It may come down to many states doing this and coins get driven to a darker spot.  Or Nevada says fuck it and becomes the Las Vegas of BTC.

BTCGuild is closing due to New York laws:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=49417.0

[ifightformerkel]

Yes it is legal. In europe it should be no problem for you to sell your bitcoins, maybe in china you should be a little bit careful.

When the amount here in germany is under 10.000 Euro they even check it where the money comes from.
But when you sell a lot more, than you should declare it.

When you dont do it, you can be charged for tax evasion.

[zero01]

may depend on the area you live
your country may not allow the use of currencies other than the currency in your country

[apesconcert]

Here in Malta such sale is not yet regulated, so it falls under the general provisions of the Income Tax Act, and is taxed according to the amount sold. Basically, you pay tax on the profits earned if the money used to buy BTC has already been declared and taxed, or on the whole amount if the money used to buy the BTC has not yet been taxed and declared. I'll leave it to you to decide which is better. If you need any more info regarding such issues, feel free to contact me, as I am a lawyer specialising in Bitcoin and Virtual Currencies.

[tonycamp]

its it illagal the trade exchange sites of bitcoin they are on for years i dont think soo btc its legal to have and buy and sell tyhe only thing its when its gets to your bank acount the $ € Yen you may pay taxes just it

[irfan01]

it is bitcoin you and it is your right, I think it legal long as there are no state laws prohibit

[tmltd]

You can read the BurtW story about his arrest here https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=934268.0 and https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1160288.msg12224120#msg12224120

[CheckOut3]

There is usually a limit on the amount you can sell without getting problems..

[NoRespect]

of course it is legal
bitcoin it is yours and it is your right

[killerjoegreece]

I dont think that exists 'money transmitter' its yours you do anything u want with it.

[ashour]

It really depends on how much bitcoin you re trying to sell, if you are selling 2-3 btc then I don't think that the government will care at all. But if you are selling 200-300 btc then this might be a different case.

[wafersticks09]

I think it depends on how much you would sell and area where you live at.

[BurtW]

I heard that some people have been arrested and charged with "transmitting money without a license" for selling Bitcoins.

Does this mean it is illegal for me to sell my Bitcoins?

I was arrested for selling my Bitcoins using localbitcoins.com

I paid all of my capital gains taxes on all of my trading - that was not the issue.  The legal issue boiled down to one question:  was I operating a business or not.  They claimed it was a business, I claimed it was not.  After being forced to "donate" about $40,000 in cash and $40,000 in Bitcoin to their Federal Asset Forfeiture slush fund we agreed to disagree and they dropped the charges.  Defending me against the federal felony charge [Operating a business without a license, up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine] did end up costing us almost $300,000 of our retirement funds, our daughter's college fund, our savings, and the equity in our house.

You can read all about it here:

http://www.jmwagner.com/
http://www.burtw.com/

However, if you sell your Bitcoins though an exchange you will not run into this specific issue since there is really no way they can call it a business, go after you, and then grab all the assets they can get their money grubbing hands on.

[newbitcoins]

If you use localbitcoins to buy and sell a small amount of bitcoin, that is not a business. It is not a money transmitter. But you have declare that you do not deal with drug dealers. The bitcoin you sell should not be used illegally.

[BurtW]

If you use localbitcoins to buy and sell a small amount of bitcoin, that is not a business.

Since my case was dismissed before it went to trial this was not decided.  Whether this it is a business or not currently can only be decided by a jury.

It is not a money transmitter.

Also not true.  You would have to argue this point with motions before a judge and then possibly a jury.  This would have been an argument in my case but again the motions were never filed and the case did not go to a jury. 

But you have declare that you do not deal with drug dealers.

And this would help you how?  Sure, if someone says "I am a drug dealer" or "I am an undercover cop pretending to be a drug dealer"  or "I am an undercover Homeland Security agent" then you should not trade with them.  But all of these guys will lie to your face.  Then what?

The bitcoin you sell should not be used illegally.

In my case the only legal issue was whether it was a business or not.  If you use your Bitcoins to do something illegal, for example to buy a controlled substance with them, that would be a whole different case.  Anyway, how would you go about enforcing how the Bitcoins bought from you on localbitcoins eventually get used?

[User705]

The concept is simple.  If you do it as a business with a profit motive then it is considered a controlled activity.  If you simply want to buy some today and sell some next week then no.  It's no different then buying and selling PM which as a business which also requires KYC/AML.  People start running it as a business and then try to pretend it's a hobby.

[de_bit]

Nothing will likely happen if you pay your taxes and it is not from shady sources.

[knightkon]

I honestly think the only reason they are against it is because tracking BTC transactions is difficult and sometimes impossible.  I hate to say it, but if the banking system would step in and set some rules for the currency, they they would take away the illegal transaction part of it all and they would be able to regulate it to a point.  I think the reason the only places that this is illegal would be because they can not control it.  You know the governments, they hate what they can not control, but I think they know that we know this and they are working on a system to accept it and will soon take the next step to make it a currency traded on the stock market.  Again, this is my opinion.