FinCEN: Bitcoin Investment Not Money Services Business
It would appear as if the U. S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has ruled that the bitcoin investment industry doesn't quite fit their description of a money services business, thus eliminating the need to register with FinCEN and go through other hurdles. The information comes from bitcoin enthusiast Andre De Castro, who wrote to FinCEN last following a March 2013 guidance that companies that transmit bitcoin and other digital currencies must register. De Castro asked for a ruling on his investment company, RightClick, LLC. The response De Castro....
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Mt. Gox, the world's largest bitcoin exchange, has taken a step towards complying with US money-laundering regulations by registering as a money services business with the US Treasury Department. The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, FinCEN, shows on their website that Mt. Gox's registration as a money services business was received on Thursday 27th June. Although this does not constitute approval by FinCEN of Mt. Gox's activities, it is a sign that the bitcoin exchange is willing to abide by US rules in order to continue operating. "In practice, registration with....
To say bitcoin is considered to be in a gray area in the realm of financial regulation isn't a stretch. Seemingly daily, new reports are coming out that suggest the fact. Take a look at the Casascius Bitcoin mint, which was indirectly shut down by FinCEN for being "considered" a money services business. Or take a look at what happened this week in India, when authorities raided an exchange because they thought it conflicted with preventative money-laundering legislation. But we're finally getting some clarity when it comes to bitcoin mining, and what miners do with the bitcoin they've....
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....
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....
FinCEN announced on Monday that it is fining Ripple Labs, Inc., the creator of XRP, for selling XRP without first registering as a money services business and failing to implement and maintain adequate anti-money laundering provisions. These violations fall under the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970. In a press release from FinCEN, this move was called "the first civil enforcement action against a virtual currency exchanger." Ripple Labs willfully violated several requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) by acting as a money services business (MSB) and selling its virtual currency, known as XRP,....