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Miami Money-Laundering Case May Define Whether Bitcoin Is Really Money (ibtimes.com)
David Gilbert, reporting for IBTimes: Michell Espinoza, a 32-year-old computer programmer, was arrested for attempted money-laundering in 2014 when he sold $1,500 worth of bitcoin to undercover FBI agents who said they were going to use them to buy stolen credit cards. Now in a Florida courtroom, Espinoza and his lawyers are trying to get the charges dismissed on the grounds that bitcoin, under Florida law, should not be defined as actual money. (Editor's note: the source has annoying auto-playing videos. Alternatively you can use the link below.) This is thought to be the first case of its kind and the ruling by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Teresa Mary Pooler will be watched with great interest not only in the U.S., but around the world. "This is the most fascinating thing I've heard in this courtroom in a long time," Pooler said on Friday. A ruling is not expected for several weeks yet.The report also cites the take of Charles Evans, Associate Professor of Finance and Economics at Barry University, who provided evidence on behalf of the defense and told the court that bitcoin, in his opinion, is not money. He said, "Basically, it's poker chips that people are willing to buy from you." Miami Herald has more details.
The IRS already defines Bitcoin as "property" and not currency.They seem to have tied an arm behind themselves. From this nifty press release: https://www.irs.gov/uac/newsro...
I give it another year or so before gold, silver, and "bitcoin" have a special designation that closes this loophole.
Trump's tax plan would add at least $10T to the debt on top of the $10T expected under existing law. We could go from $19T under Obama to $39T under Trump. As Vice President Dick Cheney once said, "Deficits don't matter."
Those are the old estimates!
We won't be going $10 trillion into debt, most analysts are now predicting at least $40 trillion, and that figure could top $90 trillion before his term is through!
A Trump presidency would be unimaginably bad for the country, and plummet the world into catastrophe of biblical proportions! Not fall, mind you, plummet!!!
The country is at stake; nay, even the entire world! We have to stop him at any cost!
Screw what his supporters think, ignore democratic voting, the time for civil action is over.
We have to stop Trump by any means possible!!! By any means!!!!
(And if you can't get enough people to listen to you, add more rhetoric!)
I read a more detailed article on the matter and the prosecutor's line of defence is definitely more about the first charge, which is "dealing in currency without a money transmitter license" and pretty clearly requires bitcoins to be considered "currency" to stand, which is a legal grey and definitely not "of course" so. The money laundering accusation is weak no matter the legal status of bitcoins but likely there to put pressure on the defence to plead guilty on charge that matters, just as the other guy involved did (and got the money laundry charge promptly dropped).