Texas Department of Banking Releases Supervisory Memo on Virtual Currencies
The Texas Department of Banking on Thursday released a supervisory memorandum on the topic of virtual currencies, chief of which include bitcoin. The five-page document serves to outline the Texas Department of Banking's policies toward virtual currency and express the Department's interpretation of the Texas Money Services Act with reference to virtual currency. The memo makes note of the following (condensed for the sake of brevity):"Exchange of cryptocurrency for sovereign currency between two parties is not money transmission." "Exchange of one cryptocurrency for another cryptocurrency....
Related News
The Texas Department of Banking (DOB) has announced that it will not treat Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as money in a memo, whose pdf document version, interestingly enough, is no longer available. Lately, Texas has been in the headlines quite often alongside mentions of Bitcoin, from the launch of one of the first Bitcoin ATMs in the US to the State’s Attorney General accepting Bitcoin contributions for his gubernatorial campaign. Indeed, the Lone Star state has been at the forefront of embracing the peer-to-peer digital currency as of late. This is why Daniel Wood, assistant....
Bitcoin ATM providers and virtual currency exchanges may be subject to Texas licensing requirements, according to regulatory guidelines issued by the Texas Banking Commissioner on April 3. Whether business activities involving cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are subject to licensing requirements depends on the type of business, according to the Texas Department of Banking’s supervisory memorandum. Texas is one of the first U.S. states to provide specific guidance to Bitcoin ATM operators. Bitcoin ATM providers that allow users to exchange virtual currency for government-backed dollars are....
The Texas Department of Banking has announced that state-chartered banks can provide cryptocurrency custody services. “The Texas Department of Banking believes that the authority to provide these services with respect to virtual currencies already exists,” the banking authority said. Texas State-Chartered Banks Officially Authorized to Offer Crypto Custody Services The Texas Department of Banking issued a notice to the banking industry Thursday, stating: Texas state-chartered banks may provide customers with virtual currency custody services, so long as the bank has adequate....
The full text of the Texas Department of Banking (DOB) memorandum, including introduction and analysis can be found here. The letter is from Charles G. Cooper, the Banking Commissioner and the formal subject of the memorandum is: Regulatory Treatment of Virtual Currencies Under the Texas Money Services Act. As is becoming increasingly clear in the United States, regulators are realizing that existing laws against money laundering and such crimes are more than all-encompassing enough to include Bitcoin. This memorandum clarifies which types of cryptocurrency transactions count as money....
Yesterday, Texas Congressman Steve Stockman introduced a new House Resolution (HR 5777) entitled: "To protect cryptocurrencies." Congressman Steve Stockman is a Republican, from Texas's 36th Congressional district, who has become one of cryptocurrency's most ardent supporters in politics. Back in May, Stockman introduced HR 4602: Virtual Currency Tax Reform Act after the IRS revealed its virtual currency guidance for taxation. Texas has established itself as one of the most friendly states towards Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Also read: Texan Congressman to Introduce Virtual Currency Tax....