Bitcoin Group Discusses ‘Safe and Sane’ Regulations with Feds (Aug. 27, 2013)
Aug. 27, 2013
Bitcoin Foundation, an advocacy group whose stated objectives include Bitcoin standardization, promotion and protection from counterfeiters and thieves, met yesterday with several federal agencies to provide information about the decentralized virtual currency.
“The meeting was educational in nature,” says Jinyoung Englund, spokesperson for Bitcoin Foundation and director of communications and marketing at CoinLab Inc., a bitcoin business incubator. “Representatives from various agencies were active, engaged and asked interested questions. Overall, it was a productive discussion of the issues facing members of the Bitcoin industry, regulators, policymakers and enforcement agencies.”
Topics discussed included payments, mining, regulatory challenges and enforcement methodologies, Englund tells Paybefore. “We emphasized the avoidance of misinformation, dispelled myths and emphasized how critical it is for policymakers, regulators and the foundation to work together to create a safe and sane regulatory environment,” she adds.
FinCEN acts as a bridge between regulators, law enforcement and the financial industry, and the agency hosted yesterday’s meeting as a “type of outreach [to] encourage dialogue between interested parties,” according to Jennifer Shasky-Calvery, FinCEN director.
“FinCEN’s recent guidance concerning virtual currencies made clear that virtual currency administrators and exchangers that provide services within the U.S. must register with FinCEN as Money Services Businesses, and that they share similar regulatory responsibilities with other financial institutions,” Shasky-Calvery said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing this dialogue in the future.”
Bitcoin Foundation isn’t the only organization defending Bitcoin in the face of increasing worldwide scrutiny. Earlier this month, virtual currency companies announced plans to establish a self-regulating industry group called the Digital Asset Transfer Authority.
