Bitcoin lacks the characteristic of monetary instruments or financial products which S. 1241’s Section 13 attempts to regulate. Several states, as well as federal agencies have already taken conflicting positions on both the economic nature of “virtual currencies” such as Bitcoin, as well as on the legal approach to regulate such a new technology.
Claasen further stated governments need to do more research on cryptocurrencies before jumping the gun. They seem to be attacking cryptocurrency without verifying it is actually “money.” The Bitcoin Foundation argued in the letter that different government agencies do not even have consistency in their definitions of cryptocurrency. For instance, the IRS claims it is a property. However, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has basically called it money. This inconsistency within government creates confusion in the law. This is why the Bitcoin Foundation asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate the DOJ.
