For Bitcoin, Square Peg Meets Round Hole Under the Law
By PETER J. HENNING, NYT
The advent of a new medium to conduct business inevitably means avenues for criminals to swoop in to take advantage. The development of Bitcoin, the virtual currency that is not issued by any government, presents challenges for the authorities to use laws that were not designed for the digital world to combat illegal conduct.
DealBook reported on “fraud, hacking and outright theft that have become an increasingly regular part of the virtual currency world.” Bitcoin itself is neither good nor bad, just a new means to conduct business, but virtual currency operates in ways that make it harder to prosecute violations.
The value of the Bitcoins available now is quite small, totaling approximately $12 billion. Yet the perception that growing acceptance of virtual currencies will change the way business operates means governments will have to figure out how to deal with new forms of crime.
There is a Wild West quality to Bitcoin, created out of a libertarian bent that connotes a world beyond government regulation. Like any currency, it carries with it a degree of anonymity, much as the phrase “cash is an orphan” signals that money can be largely untraceable once put into circulation. More than ordinary cash, though, Bitcoin operates largely outside the current banking system, making it even more difficult to trace transactions.
(More here.)
The advent of a new medium to conduct business inevitably means avenues for criminals to swoop in to take advantage. The development of Bitcoin, the virtual currency that is not issued by any government, presents challenges for the authorities to use laws that were not designed for the digital world to combat illegal conduct.
DealBook reported on “fraud, hacking and outright theft that have become an increasingly regular part of the virtual currency world.” Bitcoin itself is neither good nor bad, just a new means to conduct business, but virtual currency operates in ways that make it harder to prosecute violations.
The value of the Bitcoins available now is quite small, totaling approximately $12 billion. Yet the perception that growing acceptance of virtual currencies will change the way business operates means governments will have to figure out how to deal with new forms of crime.
There is a Wild West quality to Bitcoin, created out of a libertarian bent that connotes a world beyond government regulation. Like any currency, it carries with it a degree of anonymity, much as the phrase “cash is an orphan” signals that money can be largely untraceable once put into circulation. More than ordinary cash, though, Bitcoin operates largely outside the current banking system, making it even more difficult to trace transactions.
(More here.)
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