It would appear as if the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has ruled that the bitcoin investment industry doesn’t quite fit their description of a money services business, thus eliminating the need to register with FinCEN and go through other hurdles.
The information comes from bitcoin enthusiast Andre De Castro, who wrote to FinCEN last following a March 2013 guidance that companies that transmit bitcoin and other digital currencies must register. De Castro asked for a ruling on his investment company, RightClick, LLC.
The response De Castro received:
To the extent that the company purchases and sells convertible virtual currency paying and receiving the equivalent value in currency of legal tender to and from counterparties, all exclusively as investments for its own account, it is not engaged in the business of exchanging convertible virtual currency for currency of legal tender for other persons
“I’m happy to see [FinCEN] clarifying guidance for companies that have very targeted approaches to dealing with purchases and sales of virtual currency for investment purposes,” said De Castro to Payments Source.
De Castro warns anyone entering the space, however, to remain cautious. (via PaymentsSource)
