Alan C. Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 California Orders Bitcoin to Cease and Desist California's Department of Financial Institutions has sent a letter to the Bitcoin Foundation warning that financial transactions within the state are required to be fully licensed and authorized. The letter follows the Bitcoin 2013 conference held last month in San Jose, CA. The Bitcoin Foundation operates as a non-profit corporation that aims to promote the use of Bitcoin as a digital currency worldwide. While the organization is registered in the U.S. capitol of Washington, D.C., members also come from international jurisdictions. "It has come to the attention of the Commissioner that Bitcoin Foundation may be engaged in the business of money transmission without having obtained the license or proper authorization required by the California Financial Code," the two-page letter states. In full capitalization, the letter goes on to say, "You are hereby warned to cease and desist from conducting the business of money transmission in this state. Failure to do so will result in appropriate action being taken." As pointed out by Jon Matonis in a Forbes article, the foundation itself does not transmit Bitcoin funds. Matonis happens to sit on the board of directors of the Bitcoin Foundation. Penalties for transmitting funds in California without proper state licensing can reach $2,500 per day and criminal prosecution that can result in hard time. On the federal level, failure to register with the U.S. Department of Treasury can lead to fines up to $250,000 and five years in a federal penitentiary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathanm Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 You're from California Alan, you have just as much claim to represent the entire state as those guys do. All you'd have to do is say, "On behalf of California and all its peoples, I hereby fully license and authorize the Bitcoin Foundation to conduct financial transactions." Make sure to wear a suit and stand behind a podium, that helps. If necessary get a friend who has a cool stamper tool and have him stamp a paper with words to that effect on it. Should work fine, as long as there are no skeptics present who could disturb the magical licensing chi. Oh, I almost forgot - fountain pen! Gotta sign the paper with that. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesP Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 If it weren't so threatening, it would be amusing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-William Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 California Orders Bitcoin to Cease and Desist And they're going to need to talk to this AlGore fellow about the internet he made divulging all these state secrets. Next they're going to order god to cease and desisit with the earthquakes and the wild fires... Oh and they're definitely going to get on the case of Einstein and Newton about this gravity thing... it sure crashes lotsa planes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victor Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 I'm confused. Do people really doubt what is going to happen with Bitcoin? To me is clear as chilled bottle water poured slowly on a silver platter. The US is going to make war with Bitcoin. The US is a monetary scheme where a group of people get to bully the world to force them to use their made-up currency, and then dominate the world by printing, buying and bribing. They have gone to war over and over again with its competitors. They ruin whoever stands in their way. Sure other currencies exist, but none threaten the dollar hegemony (it's relationship with energy and oil). Certainly none dare compete in US territories. Now, how on earth would anybody imagine this monster gang would allow people to make fools of them in their own turf? The dollar is the mechanism through which the US state even exists. They're going to rain hell on anybody near bitcoins in the states, and cripple international institutions dealing with the stuff anyway they can. This must be item number one in the agenda of any competent asshole politician. If they fail to do this it'd like the Soviet Union trained/controlled soldiers in East Germany failing to shoot at people who climb over the Berlin wall (the Berlin wall being the sole mechanism by which East Germany existed). It would be the mark of collapse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathanm Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 I knew Bernard Von Nothaus was doomed, but isn't the decentralized and digital nature of bitcoin going to make this crackdown much harder? Who's going to jail on this one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metric Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 ...and another demonstration of the state failing even a basic comprehension of what they're supposed to be regulating. What exact behavior do they want the "bitcoin foundation" to cease and desist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest darkskyabove Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 The are two obvious routes for intervention against BitCoin: 1) Exchange. In order to exchange BitCoin for another currency there must be a publicly available exchange entity. If one cannot acquire BitCoin, except by mining, or by trade, their use is limited. 2) Vendors. There must be publicly available vendors who accept BitCoin as payment. If one cannot spend BitCoin, except in rare instances, their use is severely limited. Route 1 is already under attack. It seems likely that even if there exists a "country" that would allow the running of an Internet-based BitCoin currency exchange, and protected against US Empire & EuroZombie intrusion, these BitCoin servers would be subjected to highly aggressive cyber-attacks. Additionally, the fiat currency nations would work to block repatriation of the currency from said "country". Route 2 is probably even easier for State's to attack by simply pressuring vendors who wished to accept BitCoin; i.e., regulations for businesses with dire consequences for disobedience. Another problem is that of using BitCoin as a hedge against hyper-inflation and bankruptcy of the State. The infrastructure which allows use of the Internet is highly dependent on State-run or State-dominated utilities. No infrastructure = no Internet = no BitCoin. I am not trying to argue that BitCoin is DOA; I would love to see it flourish. In a truly free market BitCoin would have great utility, but there is an abundance of evidence for how the State reacts to threats, real or perceived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masonman Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 I am still amazed how bitcoin is truly getting widespread usage. I don't think the government will be able to stop it, just like they have been unable to stop a lot of other internet trends. But yes, expect as bitcoin gets more popular the government will take more and more aggressive actions, for as they say, the government HATES competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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