Coinbase Renews Wyoming Money Transmitter License Bringing Bitcoin Back to The Cowboy State Coinbase, one of the largest Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchanges set out with an ambitious goal to operate in all 50 states and beyond, adhering to every federal and state regulations.  That endeavor proved to be a challenge as various states’ regulations had […]

CFPB Announces The New Office of Innovation Last week the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a press release assigning the new Director for the Office of Innovation, Paul Watkins, a FinTech regulator from Arizona’s Office of the Attorney General. Similar to the FTC’s Blockchain Working Group and LabCFTC, the Office of Innovation will engage experts in […]

New York BitLicense May Be Replaced by Digital Seal Getting Rid of Fees Just over a year ago on January 2017, Coinbase became the third virtual currency business to obtain a New York Bitcoin license, or ” BitLicense, ” granted by the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS). The New York Bitcoin Licensing scheme […]

IRS Virtual Currency Taxes Reminder With the CFTC getting support from the federal courts that virtual currency is a commodity and SEC regulating them as securities, it’s easy to forget the yearly IRS reminders since 2014 that cryptocurrency transactions should be reported like any other property. Four years ago on March 23, 2014 the IRS issued […]

FTC Sues Bitcoin Scammers and a Forms Blockchain Working Group The Federal Trading Commission, the biggest consumer fraud protection agency in the U.S, filed a law suit on Friday against two companies and four defendants operating a Bitcoin pyramid Scheme and announced the formation of its very own Blockchain Working Group. The U.S District Court […]

Coinbase Announces SegWit Implementation Coinbase, one of the world’s largest Bitcoin wallet and exchange platform, announced a software update with SegWit to help with its notorious delays for costumer transactions. SegWit (Segregated Witness) is a transaction protocol for Bitcoin that expands the number of transactions that can be carried out in its Blockchain distributed ledger.  This update will […]

Oregon State Agency Receives Coinbase and Digital Currency Complaints, Offers Warnings On January 10, 2018 The Bend Bulletin reported that Oregon’s Department of Consumer and Business Services received complaints from consumers related to Coinbase. Spokes man Brad Hilliard said the costumer complaints were in regards to delays in receiving their digital currency on Coinbase. Since […]

FinCEN Resource Center (financial institution contact), FRC@FinCEN.gov Immediate Release December 04, 2017 FinCEN Seeks to Strengthen Public-Private Partnership to Combat Financial Crime WASHINGTON — The United States Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) launched the FinCEN Exchange program today to enhance  information sharing with financial institutions.  As part of this program, FinCEN, […]

Public Statement Statement on Cryptocurrencies and Initial Coin Offerings SEC Chairman Jay Clayton Dec. 11, 2017 The world’s social media platforms and financial markets are abuzz about cryptocurrencies and “initial coin offerings” (ICOs). There are tales of fortunes made and dreamed to be made. We are hearing the familiar refrain, “this time is different.” The […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) brought action against Intercept Corporation, a payment processor and two of its executives, Craig Dresser and Bryan Smith for the illegal authorization of withdrawals from consumer accounts by their clients.  The lawsuit was filed in federal district court in which the CFPB asserts that Intercept ignored […]