New US Treasury FinCEN Ruling Clarifies Money Transmission Status Of Renting Bitcoin Miners And Hashing Power
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....
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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....
FinCEN has released two new Virtual Currency Guidance notes today. FIN-2014-R011 and FIN-2014-R2012 both detail FinCEN's response to requests "for Administrative Ruling on the Application of FinCEN's Regulations to Virtual Currency" Trading Platforms and Payment Systems. FinCEN has clarified that both would require a money transmitter license under their federal rules. FinCEN's clarifications, presented by Jamal El-Hindi, the Associate Director of FinCEN's Policy Division, may be the precursor to a new wave of Bitcoin company crackdowns. Recently, the SEC revealed that there were ongoing....
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....
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....
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....