Bitcoin Is Officially a Commodity, According to U.S. Regulator
Source: Bloomberg News
Virtual money is officially a commodity, just like crude oil or wheat.
So says the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which on Thursday announced it had filed and settled charges against a Bitcoin exchange for facilitating the trading of option contracts on its platform.
"In this order, the CFTC for the first time finds that Bitcoin and other virtual currencies are properly defined as commodities," according to the press release.
While market participants have long discussed whether Bitcoin could be defined as a commodity, and the CFTC has long pondered whether the cryptocurrency falls under its jurisdiction, the implications of this move are potentially numerous.
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-17/bitcoin-is-officially-a-commodity-according-to-u-s-regulator
CFTC press release on the issue...
http://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/pr7231-15
Bubzer
(4,211 posts)TheBlackAdder
(28,252 posts)Bubzer
(4,211 posts)If anything, it's been forcibly placed under CFTC jurisdiction so it can be regulated.
Also, Iceland, Bolivia, Ecuador, Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam have all banned bitcoin. It does not enjoy the universal monetary acknowledgement of actual currencies such as the dollar, Yen, Yuan, Pound, Euro etc.
mwrguy
(3,245 posts)About time they reined in this libertarian horseshit.
Cayenne
(480 posts)mwrguy
(3,245 posts)i.e. the 1% to not pay their share, and for gun/survival nuts to try to stay off the grid
Cayenne
(480 posts)Honduras will start using the blockchain for public property records because it is cheap, transparent, and uncorrupted. Sidechains can be used for entirely newly invented economies. Bitcoin is coming in where banks are failing, like Greece and Brazil.
Shankapotomus
(4,840 posts)You can cheat on your taxes with Bitcoin but you can also be responsible and report it.
What's positive about Bitcoin is it's a potential bank and credit card killer, which is in line with the goals of the Occupy Movement.
It eliminates the middleman and fees between people and their transactions.
christx30
(6,241 posts)Why don't they just make gold in World of Warcraft a commodity?
Hugin
(33,222 posts)Yeah.
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)Javaman
(62,534 posts)so trading in magic beans is okay now.
Orrex
(63,263 posts)PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)closeupready
(29,503 posts)it can be used as a medium of exchange between currencies, while eliminating the money-changers and their fees (and power to veto purchases).
olddots
(10,237 posts)Shitcoin .
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)closeupready
(29,503 posts)As in those living in 'mom's basement'.