[ale] [OT] (but computer and cryptography related) Bitcoin, Litecoin

[Alex Carver]

On 3/30/2013 18:06, Michael B. Trausch wrote:
> On 03/30/2013 08:36 PM, Alex Carver wrote:
>> If you were to agree to accept rubber chickens for installing a PBX then
>> the BSA/Treasury/Congress has no claim because the rubber chickens are
>> not being exchanged for regulated currency, they are being exchanged for
>> goods and services directly.  But if you want US Dollars and I only have
>> rubber chickens then I have to go exchange my rubber chickens for US
>> Dollars and, boom, BSA steps in.
>
> I certainly don't need a license, though, to trade you and then sell the
> chickens.  After all, a sale is nothing more than a conversion from a
> good or service to currency.

That's true, you don't need a license to trade me a good or service for 
the chickens.  And you don't need a license to sell the chickens away so 
that you can acquire a good or a service for yourself.  You *would* need 
a license (according to the Treasury's clarification) to convert those 
chickens directly to US Dollars by an exchange/broker.

The Treasury said that a sale occurring entirely within a particular 
currency (your PBX for my chickens) without an exchange to US Dollars is 
free and clear of the BSA requirements.  If you then take those chickens 
and buy groceries from a store that accepts chickens, you're still free 
and clear.  But if you wander off to the bank and ask for the US Dollar 
equivalent for the chickens because the store won't take the chickens, 
then it's time to tell the Treasury.