Questions tagged [legal]

Legal issues relating to the use of Bitcoins or similar crypto-currencies. This includes issues of legal compliance with legal areas such as taxation, money laundering, international currency controls, and so on. Please do not ask for legal advice.

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What's the minimum age to join or use Bitcoin?

What is the minimum age a person must be to use the Bitcoin service?
Ashesh's user avatar
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15 votes
5 answers
5k views

Do you have to pay taxes on Bitcoin revenues? [closed]

Disclaimer: this is not legal advice, and this varies from country to country. If you accept bitcoins as payment, do you have to pay taxes on that? And would you have to write an invoice? Since they ...
o0'.'s user avatar
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8 votes
2 answers
558 views

Ramifications of illegal content in transaction messages?

Would it be possible to make using Bitcoin illegal by posting child porn or similar highly illegal content in the message of a transaction? There are methods for having 'thin clients' that don't ...
Michael Burge's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
397 views

How to ask crypto exchange to seize scammed funds traced to one of their exchange wallets?

There are now blockchain explorers that allow popular wallet addresses like crypto exchange aggregate wallets to be labeled with "Binance 1" or "Binance 4" for instance. If you ...
user610620's user avatar
36 votes
18 answers
13k views

I paid in bitcoin, now I'm owed a refund. Can I demand it in bitcoin too?

This is, I suppose, a legal question so I should point out that I'm most interested in US and European law. I made a payment to a company for a product more than a year ago in bitcoin. The amount ...
CharlieB's user avatar
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30 votes
2 answers
1k views

What does the US government do with seized coins?

It was reported today that the US government shut down the web site Silk Road, where people bought and sold things (allegedly including illegal drugs) using Bitcoins. The operator was arrested, and ...
Nate Eldredge's user avatar
25 votes
6 answers
4k views

What is the current legal status of Bitcoin around the world?

Has there been any concrete information about the legality of Bitcoin in any country? Since any information can be injected into the blockchain, then if child porn / copyrighted material is injected ...
ripper234's user avatar
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16 votes
4 answers
1k views

What are the legal processes that someone would have to go through in order to get a Bitcoin exchange operational?

One of the main perceived difficulties in getting started with Bitcoin is obtaining some in the first place. Naturally, for an exchange to be accepted into the mainstream it needs to be a recognised ...
Gary's user avatar
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12 votes
1 answer
4k views

Has any illegal data been saved in the Block Chain?

Has any illegal data been saved in the Block Chain, such as an illegal number, or illegal prime?
ThePiachu's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
3k views

Legal issues / banking issues selling Bitcoins to people OTC?

I'm wondering what the practical / legal limits are on selling Bitcoin as an individual using Craigslist and LocalBitcoins. Will I run into legal issues / frozen bank accounts as I scale this? Right ...
David Silva Smith's user avatar
5 votes
5 answers
7k views

Why is it so difficult to track & recover stolen Bitcoins?

I have to admit I don't fully understand the Bitcoin protocol. But from what I do understand, transactions are traceable -- it is the main reason decentralization works: the world can watch and ...
samthebrand's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
160 views

Why do people claim that governments cannot confiscate Bitcoins?

Let's say that I practice impeccable data security processes using dedicated devices, encryption, and no clear-text backups. Even if they cannot find all of my backups, this doesn't protect me from ...
Marcoa R's user avatar
21 votes
4 answers
853 views

Is the NotHaus conviction (Liberty Dollar) relevant as legal precedent?

Bernard von NotHaus (the creator of the Liberty Dollar) was convicted of violating a U.S. federal law that forbids the minting of a currency by anyone in the U.S. besides the federal government. ...
Michael Hardy's user avatar
18 votes
7 answers
7k views

Do USA-based miners need to register with FinCEN?

As seen in recent news, FinCEN has issued a statement on its classification of virtual currencies: http://www.fincen.gov/statutes_regs/guidance/html/FIN-2013-G001.html Hypothetically suppose I mine ...
Streblo's user avatar
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17 votes
9 answers
2k views

Is there any way the Bitcoin network could resist a viral tainted-coin tagging system implemented by regulators?

Already it's possible for MtGox etc. to detect spends of coins that have certain well-known thefts in their history. If regulators forced audits on exchanges and key popular merchants, as well as ...
Julian Noble's user avatar
14 votes
2 answers
1k views

Tax implications in Canada of buying and selling Bitcoins?

What taxes should be paid in Canada on Bitcoin transactions? Has anyone gotten official advice on this? Is it relevant whether the Bitcoins were mined, received as payment for services, bought and ...
Kiv's user avatar
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11 votes
3 answers
711 views

Is there a list of countries that are not likely to persecute bitcoin businesses?

It seems that at some point countries will start cracking down on Bitcoins. And Bitcoin is designed to handle that. However, are there some countries that are openly friendly to bitcoin businesses ...
shoeless joe's user avatar
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11 votes
2 answers
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Anonymity through paying by bitcoin

I am considering the VPN service Privateinternetaccess. One of it's payment methods is bitcoins. As described on this page paying with bitcoins strengthens anonymity. In contradiction, this page ...
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9 votes
7 answers
3k views

Is performing a 51% attack / double spend on Bitcoin illegal?

Suppose I had an ultra large ASIC from the future, and could perform a double spend on the core Bitcoin network. At this point in Bitcoin's development, it is no longer a game - there's real money ...
ripper234's user avatar
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8 votes
3 answers
634 views

Defense from Government Intervention

What's to stop a government, say the U.S. government, from saying "Hey, it's okay if you want to use Bitcoins, but you have to use at least version 0.6.3". And then a year later changing the law to "...
Paul's user avatar
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8 votes
5 answers
941 views

Would it be possible to patent Bitcoin?

Bitcoin utilizes a proof-of-work mechanism to assure against double-spending, as well as providing an example opensource implementation. However, some countries allow software patents, which could ...
Jez's user avatar
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8 votes
4 answers
1k views

What prevents Bitcoins for being used to avoid taxation?

Today, states can follow money trails and transaction histories, usually involving checking bank accounts. As as I understand, It's impossible for anyone else to read your Bitcoin transactions and ...
Martin Wickman's user avatar
6 votes
3 answers
373 views

How can I tell whether transactions were (not) made via BitPay / Coinbase?

Background Recently, Rep. Steve Stockman posed for a photo op with his Bitcoin address on a big QR code, which got shared. He has a Bitcoin donation page which asks for identifying info and goes ...
Sai's user avatar
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6 votes
3 answers
395 views

What are the qualities of a country that might make it more or less likely to freely allow Bitcoins or crypto-currencies?

As some examples which seem logical to me, but should only be taken as examples: A government that is susceptible to commercial lobbying is probably more likely to be pressured by banks to disallow ...
Highly Irregular's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
316 views

What are the consequences of donating bitcoins to WikiLeaks?

The WikiLeaks website provides a bitcoin donation address 1HB5XMLmzFVj8ALj6mfBsbifRoD4miY36v According to this article from the Sydney Morning Herald, Julian Assange of WikiLeaks has been declared an ...
Highly Irregular's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
146 views

Best way to distribute bitcoin to heirs in a will

I see on [bitaddress][1] you can generate a split wallet. That's where multiple parties have to each submit their "share" keys to generate the combined private key. So the hard part, the math, has ...
toddmo's user avatar
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5 votes
3 answers
546 views

From a legel perspective, are Bitcoins "created" by a miner or the Bitcoin Protocol?

The recent FinCEN announcement said explicitly that virtual currency isn't a "currency" by the standard sense of the word, and shouldn't be regarded as such. Should Bitcoin ever be considered a "...
makerofthings7's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
427 views

The context of FBI involvement with Bitcoin

A number of articles appeared recently linking to a leaked document about Bitcoin written by the FBI. Bitcoin Virtual Currency: Unique Features Present Distinct Challenges for Deterring Illicit ...
Highly Irregular's user avatar
4 votes
5 answers
2k views

How to file bitcoin income to the IRS

I want to check if there is any specific tips how to properly file income from speculation with BTC to the IRS. Also is there any specific report from the Coinbase available?
A B's user avatar
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3 votes
3 answers
776 views

What happens if the US govt. bans Bitcoin?

They can do that because they are the US govt. What would be the likely consequences of the ban?
Mella's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
280 views

Tax deduction for US-based employer paying in Bitcoin to overseas contractor

My employer can write off business expenses (my salary) if he pays me via wire transfer, PayPal, Payoneer and some other international payment systems. Is there a tax-deductible method for him to buy ...
user8994's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
154 views

Blockchain and user rights to ask for personal data removal

Some countries (France with the CNIL, and more generally European - but probably many other - countries) have laws that give the right to users of online services to ask for permanent unsubscription / ...
Basj's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
320 views

Accountability with Bitcoin transactions

In one of the comments to this question Highly Irregular pointed out an interesting legal issue that might arise with Bitcoin. Mainly, if some organisations use Bitcoin (say, Wikileaks) and are deemed ...
ThePiachu's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
3k views

Is there a way to report/shutdown a Bitcoin Criminal/Bad-Actor?

I received a SPAM/Phishing/Blackmail email demanding payment to a specific Bitcoin wallet. BTC: 15vUqauqHybEPvXYLv97WW4XwM2YHXYC1d How can this criminal be shutdown? If legal action is ...
rickhg12hs's user avatar