FinCEN: Bitcoin Miners Need Not Register as Money Transmitters
Bitcoin miners who mine "for themselves" do not have to register as Money Services Businesses (MSBs) with the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), according to an official letter from the agency this week. FinCEN was replying to a request for clarification by Atlantic City Bitcoin (AC Bitcoin), aka advocate Milly Bitcoin, who maintains an array of ASIC miners in New Jersey. According to the letter, miners are still free to purchase goods or trade with exchanges with the bitcoins they produce whether operating as individuals or businesses. The news should come as a relief for....
Related News
The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has published a new Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) analysis and, notably, the bulletin covers bitcoin. FinCEN, which is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, has already weighed in on bitcoin in the past. In the last six months, it has ruled that bitcoin miners and investors, as well as cloud mining and escrow services built on the bitcoin protocol, are not money transmitters. FinCEN is tasked with policing financial transactions in the US and all money transmitters are expected to register with the bureau. This issue has....
Some good news came out of the US Treasury Department for American Bitcoin miners. Anyone mining Bitcoins for his or her own purposes and not for the benefit of others will not be consider a money services business and will thus have no obligation to register with FinCEN, according to a ruling by the group. FinCEN, or the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, has thus far required any US-based Bitcoin business to register as money transmitters. But if you are mining Bitcoins simply for your own digital currency wealth and spending those earnings for your sole benefit, then you don’t fall....
FinCEN, The US Department of Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, has issued a ruling that tries to clear up what could be a problem for Bitcoin mining. The problem is explained by whether someone who mines Bitcoins for themselves can trade the Bitcoins for fiat money at an exchange or spend them without being classified as a Money Service Business (which forces the miner to register with FinCEN). Many Bitcoin miners have been concerned that tough regulation from FinCEN would mean that they would have to require an auditor staff, hence making it hard for individuals to mine....
On December 27th, CoinText.com reported that FinCEN has issued a clarification to the money service business rules for Bitcoin miners. Individuals and companies who mine Bitcoins for their own accounts will not be considered money service businesses or money transmitters within the meaning of the Bank Secrecy Act. The clarification was outlined in a letter sent in response to an inquiry on behalf of Atlantic City Bitcoin, LLC, which was reprinted in full at CoinText's website. Since July of 2011, FinCEN has advised that many companies that deal with Bitcoins, including miners, must....
The United States Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced two administrative rulings Thursday with regard to whether an individual or business's actions in the virtual currency space would classify them as a money transmitter, thereby being requiring them to register with FinCEN. The first ruling notes that miners of virtual currencies, the most popular of which is bitcoin, who do so for their own purposes are not considered to be a money transmitter. They will not have to register with FinCEN. The second ruling states that companies that buy....