Learn more about the 2025 Coin Center Annual Dinner

We tell Washington: an open global blockchain is the innovation that matters

Jerry Brito lays out the case for decentralized, open, permissionless ledgers at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC.

Last week we helped the Brookings Institution’s Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy organize “Beyond bitcoin: The future of blockchain and disruptive financial technologies,” a roundtable discussion among industry,...

Regulatory approaches to Bitcoin’s fast paced innovation

Jerry Brito makes the case at a Brookings Institution event to allow this technology to develop and only intervene where there is a clear problem--especially since the technology will continue to...

Bitcoin’s regulatory questions and challenges

Our Robin Weisman was called to jump into a panel discussion at the Brookings Institution. She was asked to clarify the regulatory landscape for digital currencies such as Bitcoin. Here...

What are Forks, Alt-coins, Meta-coins, and Sidechains?

Peter Van Valkenburgh, Coin Center’s Director of Research, clarifies some terminology and explains some technical concepts from the ever-changing universe of Bitcoin-derived innovations.

This post has been updated. Read the new version here.  Perhaps the most exciting aspect of cryptocurrency technology is that it is entirely open for experimentation—there’s no patent or copyright...

Fox Business asks, “Do digital currencies make it easier for terrorists to move money?”

Jerry Brito joins Dierdre Bolton on Fox Business to share the facts and dispel myths about Bitcoin and terrorist financing. 

Some facts about digital currency and terrorist financing

After the recent attacks in Paris, governments are redoubling their efforts to combat terrorist financing, and we’ve been asked how digital currencies might be affected by these efforts.

After the recent attacks in Paris, governments are redoubling their efforts to combat terrorist financing, and we’ve been asked how digital currencies might be affected by these efforts. The answer...

What last week’s European VAT ruling means for bitcoin fungibility

The European Court of Justice held that bitcoin is a currency for the purposes of VAT taxation. The decision will make it easier to exchange euros for bitcoin and could have implications for bitcoin fungibility down the line.

One of the more persnickety legal issues in the bitcoin space stems from whether liens attach to the bitcoins of a borrower, and whether they’d attach even if that borrower...

Announcing the Blockchain Alliance

Today we announced the formation of the Blockchain Alliance, a forum for law enforcement and regulators to ask questions of each other and to share information.

Like email or the web, Bitcoin is an open Internet protocol. This means that anyone can plug into the network and easily transact with anyone else in the world. This...

Letter to Conference of State Bank Supervisors

Coin Center submitted this letter to the Conference of State Bank Supervisors regarding its Model Regulatory Framework for Virtual Currency Activities.

A direct download of this letter is available here. 

Released Today: Updated State Digital Currency Principles and Framework

Our guidelines for digital currency policy now include provisions for micropayment channels and new exemptions for merchant processors.

Coin Center’s State Digital Currency Principles and Framework is our model for digital-currency-specific state-licensing regulation. It is a template with structure, definitions and language for the essential components of any digital currency...