FinCEN Offers Clarity on Renting Bitcoin Miners
The United States Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has offered some clarity on the matter of renting bitcoin miners (or mining power from bitcoin mining farms) in a letter dated April 29th. The letter comes in response to an inquiry from a redacted entity, who questions whether or not renting mining power qualifies as a money services business, thus requiring the business to register with FinCEN in addition to meeting a number of standards as per the Bank Secrecy Act (also referred to as the BSA). Such standards include AML/KYC (anti-money....
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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....
The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) published two new rulings on 30th January that aim to bring clarity as to which players in the virtual currency space will fall under the Bank Secrecy Act's (BSA) definition of a money transmitter. FinCEN said that miners who mine virtual currency for their own use, as well as companies that purchase and sell convertible virtual currency solely as an investment aren't subject to this law. "The first ruling states that, to the extent a user creates or "mines" a convertible virtual currency solely for a user's own purposes, the user is not....
Washington D. C., 4/29/14, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the enforcement arm of the United States Treasury Department, has issued its most recent ruling related to Bitcoin. A concerned American miner sent a letter to FinCEN on 2/26/14 asking whether or not the rental of computer systems for mining virtual currency would make his company an “administrator” of virtual currency or a money transmitter under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). The FinCEN ruling states that selling hashing power in timed contracts, which has become increasingly popular a la CEX.io, does not a money....
If there was any doubt about the fact as to whether or not FinCEN believes that digital currency payment processors in addition to exchange weren't money transmitters, there's now supreme clarity. This week, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released two administrative rules covering a number of topics related to bitcoin. You can read them below: FIN-2014-R012. Here's the second one: FIN-2014-R011. As expected, members of the community aren't exactly thrilled about the news, but clarity when it comes to these matters are certainly important. What do you make of it all?
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....