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Bitcoin Foundation Fires Back to California

A few weeks back, the California Department of Financial Institutions sent a cease and desist letter to the Bitcoin Foundation for engaging in the “business of money transmission without having obtained the license or proper authorization required by the California Financial Code.”

Attorneys for the Bitcoin Foundation have responded with a 7-page letter outlining why they believe the Bitcoin Foundation is not subject to regulation under the California Money Transmission Act.

Here are the key points:

• The Bitcoin Foundation does not engage in money transmission in California
• The Bitcoin Foundation does not maintain business operations in California
• The Bitcoin Foundation does not sell or issue payment instruments
• The Bitcoin Foundation does not sell or issue stored value
• The Bitcoin Foundation does not receive money for transmission

In other words, California, respectfully, you’re wrong.

The wrap up the letter with a request for the cease and desist letter to be withdrawn and ask that an opinion be issued that officially states that Bitcoin is not regulated under the California Money Tranmission Act

For the foregoing reasons, the Bitcoin Foundation has concluded that it does not engage inactivities for which a California money transmitter license is required. Furthermore, the Bitcoin Foundation respectfully submits that the sale of bitcoin is not a regulated activity generally speaking. The Bitcoin Foundation therefore respectfully requests that your office issue an official opinion or administrative letter ruling confirming that the Bitcoin Foundation is not required to obtain a license for the reasons explained above and affirming that the May 30, 2013 warning letter has been withdrawn. Further, the Bitcoin Foundation requests that your office issue an opinion that, for the reasons explained above, the sale of a bitcoin is not regulated under the California Money Transmitter Act.

Read the full letter below.

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According to a Wall Street Journal report, state regulators have issued warnings to a handful of Bitcoin-related companies, alerting them that they may be running afoul of money-transmission laws.

As the video below explains, because you can be largely anonymous in these transactions, there is concern that virtual currency can be used for money laundering or other illegal activities.

One of the companies identified as having received a warning is BitInstant. We also reported last week that the State of California issued a cease and desist letter to the Bitcoin Foundation.

We’ll be following this story closely.

CC image by by zcopley

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