Federal Judge Declares Bitcoin a Currency 425
tlhIngan writes "An East Texas federal judge has concluded that Bitcoin is a currency that can be regulated under American Law. The conclusion came during the trial of Trendon Shavers, who is accused of running the Bitcoin Savings and Trust (BTCST) as a Ponzi scheme. Shavers had argued that since the transactions were all done in Bitcoins, no money changed hands and thus the SEC has no jurisdiction. The judge found that since Bitcoins may be used to purchase goods and services, and more importantly, can be converted to conventional currencies, it is a form of currency (PDF) and investors wishing to invest in the BTCST provided an investment of money, and thus the SEC may regulate such business."
Re:Is everything currency, then? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Currency? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Obligitory Reagan quote... (Score:5, Informative)
A man who's administration set in motion all of the major changes that lead to the last big financial collapse.
Certainly not all of the major changes. Clinton signed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, repealing key elements of Glass-Steagall. Clinton also made the mistake of listening to Robert Rubin and Larry Summers' belief that derivatives didn't need the transparency of regulated exchanges.
Re:Obligitory Reagan quote... (Score:5, Informative)
The purpose of the AMT is to make "rich" people pay more not less. And "rich" in this case is merely middle class because the criteria for the AMT don't change automatically with inflation. The last few years a lot of people have found themselves liable for paying it.
Re:Obligitory Reagan quote... (Score:4, Informative)
Under an all-republican congress with a veto-proof majority.
The Republicans didn't have anything near a veto-proof majority in the Senate; they had only 53 seats at the time of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. The vote was 54-44 [govtrack.us], with only Hollings (D-SC) crossing party lines to side with the Republicans. Fitzgerald (R-IL) voted "Present" and Inhofe (R-IN) didn't vote. So even if the Republicans picked up Fitzgerald and Inhofe, they would have still needed to flip 11 Democrats to override a veto, which was highly unlikely.