How an open patents alliance can protect all cryptocurrency developers
On the Coin Center Tangents podcast this week I talked to Kirupa Pushparaj (who runs the intellectual property practice at Square) about the Crypto Open Patents Alliance. If you’re part...
There’s no such thing as a decentralized exchange
Lately, there’ve been days when crypto trading volume through decentralized exchanges (DEX) has outstripped volume on major centralized exchanges. Last year in Coin Center’s report on constitutional law and decentralized exchange,...
Two new bills in Congress would clarify agency jurisdiction over cryptocurrency
Pre-sale agreements would fall under SEC jurisdiction, CFTC would oversee decentralized network tokens
Three longstanding policy issues facing cryptocurrency technology are being addressed by two new bi-partisian bills introduced in the House today: (1) the patchwork of state-by-state licensing of exchanges, (2) the...
Are regulators poised to demand cryptocurrency address whitelisting? Probably not.
Rumors are circulating that regulators will soon require exchanges to only allow cryptocurrency withdrawals to “whitelisted” addresses or, worse, that withdrawals to unhosted wallets won’t be allowed at all. These...
Dilution and its discontents: Quantifying the overtaxation of block rewards
Newly created cryptocurrency tokens dilute the holdings of existing token owners. If block rewards are taxable income at their fair market value at the time acquired, token holders’ income will...
The ideal regulatory environment for Bitcoin
We’re often asked what our ideal regulatory environment would be for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies like it. A few years ago, in a regulatory submission to the Indian Ministry of Finance,...
Congress to IRS: Proof-Of-Stake block rewards should not be taxed as income
New letter asks for sensible policy that better reflects the nature of token creation via staking, and its logic applies to proof-of-work as well.
A bipartisan group of members of Congress have sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service asking that staking rewards for validators in proof-of-stake networks be taxed when sold rather...
Six cryptocurrency functions that nationally chartered banks should be free to engage in.
A direct download of this comment is available here.
Federal regulator: National banks can hold cryptocurrency
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has formally stated that nationally chartered banks can hold cryptocurrencies for their customers. As Brian Brooks, Acting Comptroller said, From safe-deposit boxes...
Do we really need more guidance from FinCEN?
In May of last year, FinCEN issued guidance on “virtual currency” that reiterated and explained its original 2014 guidance. It essentially articulates a general principle: a business is subject to...