Posted on 07/28/2016 6:51:46 PM PDT by oblomov
A Miami-Dade judge ruled Monday that Bitcoin is not actually money, a decision hailed by proponents of the virtual currency that has become popular across the world.
In a case closely watched in financial and tech circles, the judge threw out the felony charges against website designer Michell Espinoza, who had been charged with illegally transmitting and laundering $1,500 worth of Bitcoins. He sold them to undercover detectives who told him they wanted to use the money to buy stolen credit-card numbers.
But Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Teresa Mary Pooler ruled that Bitcoin was not backed by any government or bank, and was not tangible wealth and cannot be hidden under a mattress like cash and gold bars.
The court is not an expert in economics; however, it is very clear, even to someone with limited knowledge in the area, the Bitcoin has a long way to go before it the equivalent of money, Pooler wrote in an eight-page order.
The judge also wrote that Florida law which says someone can be charged with money laundering if they engage in a financial transaction that will promote illegal activity is way too vague to apply to Bitcoin.
This court is unwilling to punish a man for selling his property to another, when his actions fall under a statute that is so vaguely written that even legal professionals have difficulty finding a singular meaning, she wrote.
(Excerpt) Read more at miamiherald.com ...
Same here. I know a lot of sites which accept BTC for payment. If it’s not money or a form of transaction then so be it LOL.
“Bitcoin not money, Miami judge rules”
I KNEW it!
Wheeeeeeeee!
My Brightly Colored Monopoly Money Racket can continue unabated! ;)
Florida sales tax rules apply to bartered transactions under the same rules that apply to regular transactions. If the goods or services are normally taxable, the bartered transaction will also be taxable.
BTC is not money. Trump is un-electable. The media is our watchdog. Justice is blind. The government works for the people. etc...
Some people are simply incapable of seeing paradigm shifts.
I don’t know when I’ve been happier to see a ruling that is complete and utter crap. The longer Bitcoin and its ‘sisters’ like Litecoin aren’t thought of and classified as “real money” (which they absolutely are in a rapidly growing market) the longer it can grow before having to take measures specifically to evade governments eager to stick their hands in a whole new group of pockets.
I say this because I recently got licensed in financial dealings and folks, you would not believe the level of federal tyranny involved. Some of the stuff I’m supposed to abide by approaches Soviet-level tyranny. A few examples, very simplified due to time constraints - A: not filing a suspicious activity report under certain circumstances within so many days, B: telling someone I did (so say if I know they’re innocent they have time to prepare for the s**t hitting the fan) C: giving someone advice how to transfer money without having it possibly held without explanation or with any timeframe of release (your money can literally be frozen with no appeal if some Feddie THINKS it’s suspicious enough.)
In the space of a few days I went from vaguely positive on BC to fanatically enthusiastic for the sole reason of wanting the common man and woman to have a way to conduct business and transfer their hard-earned funds freely. The thought of the crooks and clowns in Washington going crazier than Daffy Duck on laughing gas because people have invented a way to bypass their entire Gordian Knot of restrictions on their own money makes me giddy with glee.
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