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Relevant: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6hbis7/us_congress_going_full_1984_on_bitcoin_and_assets/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6hbis7/u

Relevant: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6hbis7/us_congress_going_full_1984_on_bitcoin_and_assets/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6hbis7/us_congress... TLDR; There's currently a bill to make cryptocurrencies illegal. (and other stuff that the government can't control)

KGIII 9y ago
Alright, I waded through the salient sections. It doesn't appear to be making it illegal, at least not outright prohibiting it. It also includes some verbiage for some research to be done - basically a feasibility study. It looks like they're going to treat cryptocurrencies like cash. Somehow, it looks like they think they are going to be able to detect it at the border. I have no idea how they think they are going to do that. If you want to get around it, just don't leave evidence of it on your devices when you cross the border. Dropbox exists. Other than that, they've already made it so that it is illegal to do certain transactions, over $10,000, without notifying the government. My understanding is that exchanges already follow this rule, but I bet there are some .onion sites that beg to differ, just a hunch. But, it doesn't look like they are making them illegal. It almost looks like they are recognizing it as legitimate. If you read the proposal, treat it like a find/replace. It is modifying existing laws.
declan 9y ago
Not quite illegal, but not quite legal (in the current relatively unregulated sense) either. I did a writeup of the Senate bill in the HN thread on it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14567005 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14567005
igk 9y ago
Honestly, this seems like a reasonably sane bill. IANAL but it does not seem to make cryptocurrencies illegal, more the opposite: it recognizes them as cash and places the same requirements that other financial instruments have on them...with a review period of 18 months. That seems good for crypto more than anything else. If anyone knows more about this and wants to explain why I'm misunderstanding this I'd be thankful :-)
- skynode 9y ago
  Don't know what the HN abbreviation, IANAL, means but in my ignorance it just looks quite distasteful. :\
  - Normal_gaussian 9y ago
    I am not a Lawyer. I first saw it on Reddit, I presume that isn't its starting point though.
  - grkvlt 9y ago
    It isn't really specific to HN, It's been in use since the days of Usenet, as I recall.

KGIII 9y ago

Alright, I waded through the salient sections. It doesn't appear to be making it illegal, at least not outright prohibiting it. It also includes some verbiage for some research to be done - basically a feasibility study. It looks like they're going to treat cryptocurrencies like cash. Somehow, it looks like they think they are going to be able to detect it at the border. I have no idea how they think they are going to do that. If you want to get around it, just don't leave evidence of it on your devices when you cross the border. Dropbox exists. Other than that, they've already made it so that it is illegal to do certain transactions, over $10,000, without notifying the government. My understanding is that exchanges already follow this rule, but I bet there are some .onion sites that beg to differ, just a hunch. But, it doesn't look like they are making them illegal. It almost looks like they are recognizing it as legitimate. If you read the proposal, treat it like a find/replace. It is modifying existing laws.

declan 9y ago

Not quite illegal, but not quite legal (in the current relatively unregulated sense) either. I did a writeup of the Senate bill in the HN thread on it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14567005 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14567005

igk 9y ago

Honestly, this seems like a reasonably sane bill. IANAL but it does not seem to make cryptocurrencies illegal, more the opposite: it recognizes them as cash and places the same requirements that other financial instruments have on them...with a review period of 18 months. That seems good for crypto more than anything else. If anyone knows more about this and wants to explain why I'm misunderstanding this I'd be thankful :-)

skynode 9y ago
Don't know what the HN abbreviation, IANAL, means but in my ignorance it just looks quite distasteful. :\
- Normal_gaussian 9y ago
  I am not a Lawyer. I first saw it on Reddit, I presume that isn't its starting point though.
- grkvlt 9y ago
  It isn't really specific to HN, It's been in use since the days of Usenet, as I recall.