Actually he probably still should have (and perhaps would have) taken this public, as they have failed to deliver the instrument in a timely manner and the OP c

Actually he probably still should have (and perhaps would have) taken this public, as they have failed to deliver the instrument in a timely manner and the OP could have bought and sold bitcoin taking advantage of price movements. This is a clear case of "bucketing"[0] whether done intentionally or not. Its illegal regardless if it seemingly "worked out". [0] http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bucketing.asp http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bucketing.asp