Federal Courts Zeroing in on Bitcoin Definition
One of the most talked about issues with respect to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is exactly how they are to be legally defined. The Internal Revenue Service has ruled that, for tax purposes, Bitcoin is not to be considered “money”. While Bitcoin is commonly used as payment for goods and services and acts as a “denominator of value”, the IRS ruled that Bitcoin is taxable as property, not money, simply because it is not considered “legal tender” by Federal and state governments. The US Senate held two different sets of hearings on Bitcoin and the Homeland Security and Governmental....
Related News
Courts and regulatory entities shouldn’t be allowed to impose their uninformed thoughts on Bitcoin private keys in the form of law.
The question of whether Bitcoin can be considered “money” from both a legal and tax perspective in the United States has been in the news a great deal recently, especially with multiple Judges ruling that Bitcoin was indeed money and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seeming to contradict the courts with a stance that deems Bitcoin as property. The latest chapter comes again from Texas and Federal Magistrate Judge Amos L. Mazzant. The case was filed against Bitcoin Savings & Trust founder Trendon T. Shavers, who is accused by Federal prosecutors of running a Ponzi scheme using Bitcoin.....
Offenders that use cryptocurrency for illegal activity in Australia are more likely to receive a tougher sentence. Criminals that used cryptocurrency as part of committing a crime are more likely to receive a tougher sentence in Australian courts, a new study has found. The study, titled “Crime and Cryptocurrency in Australian Courts,” published on Monday in the Monash University Law Review, found that the use of cryptocurrency in criminal activity was seen as indicating an increased “degree of planning” and sophistication, leading the court to “consider general deterrence above other....
To be money, or not to be money? That is the question when it comes to Bitcoin. Many people around the world have a very vague understanding of what money actually is, and this can certainly extend to the judges at federal levels, who are now having to wrestle with this definition. In a new case dealing with a recently hacking of J.P. Morgan Chase, and other financial companies, a New York Federal District Judge has ruled that Bitcoin does indeed qualify as money. According to Reuters, Anthony Murgio is seeking to dismiss charges against him related to his alleged operation of the Bitcoin....
The proposed law won’t necessarily make crypto legal tender in the country, but it’ll at least be legally recognized financial asset for investments and other uses. A proposed addition to an existing Brazilian law would grant Brazilians the right to use cryptocurrency as a means of payment while protecting their private keys from being taken by the courts.Federal Deputy Paulo Martins issued the proposal to the country’s legislature on June 10. If passed, the bill would expand both the legal uses of cryptocurrency in Brazil and the power the courts would have in confiscating it.BRAZIL: Bill....