Valin Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 The Corner: Will Allen June 25, 2013 The Bitcoin Foundation, the D.C. nonprofit that serves as the principal advocate of the eponymous online alternative currency, has received a cease-and-desist order from California regulators. On Sunday Jon Matonis, a Forbes contributor who sits on the board of the Bitcoin Foundation, published the letter from Paul Crayton, counsel for the states Department of Financial Institutions. Crayton states that the Foundation may be engaged in the business of money transmission without having obtained the license or proper authorization required by the California Financial Code. Matonis flatly denies that the Bitcoin Foundation is a money transmitter, a category which includes wire services such as Western Union and online-payment processors such as PayPal. Referencing a similar letter sent by Illinois regulators to the San Francisco-based company Square (creator of a popular card-reader app for smartphones and tablets), Matonis warned, If this practice grows among states, it could have a potentially significant chilling effect on financial services innovation, especially upon lawful businesses that are designing infrastructure to support and grow the Bitcoin technology. Freedom of choice in currencies is probably the most important free speech issue of our time. (Snip) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now