Bitcoin goes to Washington
Bitcoin is reinforcing the foundations of their companies and planning the future of the fast developing virtual currency.
They have recently hired lobbyists, and are visiting lawmakers and agencies to see what rules should be written or applied in their case and how this will influence the future of the virtual coin.
Their objective is to gain a measure of control over how Washington controls and regulates the independent digital money. Jim Harper, a lobbyist who represents Bitcoin Foundation, and who also lobbied for PayPal and VeriSign, says that ‘The most important thing we're doing is explaining how Bitcoin works.’
The time for such actions is more than appropriate since Bitcoin is becoming the ever growing center of attention not only for companies and investors but also for institutions. Two weeks ago, the Internal Revenue Service decided to start taxing Bitcoin as a property, the Federal election Comission is to decide if contributions to election campaigns can be made by using Bitcoin and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is about to decide whether the virtual money should be treated as a traded commodity, like gold or interest rates, or not.
But the matter is more challenging than it seems as Attorney General Eric Holder declares that such virtual currencies are susceptible to concealing illegal activities and law enforcement agencies may encounter many difficulties in deciding upon the most suitable regulations.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin users and investors are trying to keep their eyes open and avoid being caught by surprise by new federal rules, as ‘decisions made on the Hill and by regulators can make or break any industry’, Micahel Beckerman, stated CEO of The Internet Association.
