Bitcoin not money, Miami judge rules in dismissing laundering charges
Bitcoin does not actually qualify as money, a Miami-Dade judge ruled Monday in throwing out criminal charges against a Miami Beach man charged with illegally selling the virtual currency.
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Tell that to this girl: https://steemit.com/money/@veerprit/steemit-money-is-real-you-guys
This doesn't make any sense. How can it not be money?... But this guy gets a year and a half for a ponzie... thats apparently not related to actual money? why would the SEC investigate at all?
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bitcoin-fraud-texas-idUSKCN1012W8
Federal courts are not state courts and the cases are not even kind of similar.
Doesn't matter at all what you're investing in, a ponzi is a ponzi and the dude in TX is being charged with running one. It's only cursorily related to bitcoin at all and this is the SEC which is federal and has their own laws separate from state laws.
The guy in Florida was being charged with money laundering because he sold bitcoins knowing that they would be used to purchase illegal goods. Personally I think he was as big a dirt bag as Charlie Shreem, and the case should have gone the same way. It would have too had this been federal because of Stare Decisis.
But the state judge ruled the state statute he was being charged with left the definition of money too vague for the charges to stand. Essentially he just castrated the law there.
hello
the bitcoin is widely used for money laundering in several places in the world
The judge probably thinks it's just play monopoly money for nerds....wait, isn't that what it is? jk
Judge, thank you. Bitcoin now become even more convenient means of payment. Marijuana is not a crime.
Good news for us in the crypto realm = potentially less regulations
That is funny is because Bitcoin and gold are the closest things we have to true money today. It will be interesting to see how the Steemit platform transforms opinions to money for the everyday person.
https://steemit.com/area/@steve-mcclair/area-51-steemit-has-arrived
wait... is this good or bad news? lol
Well it certainly isn't bad news :) - less regulations, "money laundering" cases that involve bitcoin transactions now can't be treated as money laundering since bitcoin isn't money :) and also new cases that will appear can now lean on this ruling which is great.
This will only be true once the decision comes from a Federal Supreme Court and is upheld as constitutional. As of right now, it's only proven that one jurisdiction has gave credence to this interpretation of the law.
But could they still refer to this case in other jurisdictions or will that currently only be applicable in Miami (Florida)?
It's a state court it has no bearing on federal cases at all.
Mixed bag. One downside is that courts will be reluctant to treat crypto as property...
The bad news is that crypto could be taxed on any gains from appreciation if it is determined to not be money.
IRS & FinCEN have already declared it money. Treat it like CAD or EUR or GBP and you'll be fine. Same with Steem & SBD.
FYI the Judge didn't rule on it's legitimacy as money, he ruled that the statute under which he was charged left the definition too vague and broad as to be enforceable. Basically he's saying if Bitcoin is money than so is just about anything else. The bigger news is the judge tossed out a whole lot of Florida's ability to fight money laundering over this. Now it's pretty much all on the feds.
He essentially just castrated the Florida equivalent of the FBI over this.
Le Bitcoin n'est pas considéré comme une monnaie dans la législation actuelle. C'est une bonne nouvelle car cela prouve que l'état et la justice considère que ça n'appartient pas à l'état. ;)
thanks for sharing, I forgot about this case but was interested in it. My take though, if you come into a coffee shop to do a live sale, and someone goes, "I would like to buy some bitcoin," than you'd be like "OK great!" But if someone says "I would like to buy some Bitcoin to go this illegal stuff" you would think most people would say "see ya." I bet this is what the prosecutors were going after, not so much the currency itself (whether bitcoin or cash) but the conspiracy to be involved with a crime.