In an update on the bitcoin money-laundering charge against Ian Freeman, the Union-Leader points to apparent discrepancy between how New Hampshire and federal regulators look at bitcoin kiosks, which are central to the case:
In 2017, the New Hampshire Banking Department informed at least one merchant that his bitcoin kiosk does not require a state license. State banking officials say they issue many similar no-action letters each year.
But the U.S. Treasury Department sees it another way. In 2018 its law enforcement arm informed Shire Cryptocoin that exchanges involving cryptocurrency were money-transmitting operations that needed to be properly registered.
The story is here. It’s got good background about cryptocurrency exchange regulation. The story is paywalled because it takes money to hire reporters and editors.
My background on the case, and a more complicated cryptocurrency case that is unrelated, is here.
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I heard a report about how horribly environmentally damaging the bitcoin industry is worldwide (involving huge amounts of energy required to keep associated computers humming). I’ll bet the same is true of other forms of digital/virtual currency. Who knew? Well, now I do!!