BitCoin Lobbyists Met US Government

A few days ago, representatives of BitCoin’s largest lobby group have met federal law enforcement and financial agencies, while the American authorities increased their scrutiny of the controversial digital currency. According to general counsel for the BitCoin Foundation, the group met the FBI, Federal Reserve, Treasury Department, tax officials and even members of the secret service.

As you know, BitCoin differs from traditional currencies, as it isn’t backed by a central government, but rather created by a computer program. The cyber currency can be traded or used to pay for goods and services. However, the governments have expressed concerns about potential money laundering abuses and BitCoin use in funding unauthorized activities like drug purchases.

BitCoin Foundation revealed that the agenda of the Washington meeting was to help regulators, policymakers and law enforcement officials better understand the currency protocol and distributed finance. Thus, the authorities would be able to make better decisions and design new methodologies to identify and intercede illegal activity.

The industry observers point out that the meeting comes amid signs of a crackdown on cyber currency. In August, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security asked for details of any strategies regarding virtual currencies. At the same time, New York’s department of financial services sent subpoenas to a few firms involved with BitCoin, requesting data on their business practices. If you remember, the BitCoin Foundation clashed with US regulators a couple months ago, as those accused the group of being engaged in money transmission without proper authorization. The group hoped the Federal meetings would clear up misunderstandings and announced that it was ready to start a conversation about the appropriate role of the authorities in that emerging space. BitCoin Foundation called for an open and transparent dialog between good-faith stakeholders in order to find common ground and develop public-private partnerships. The group admitted they were glad to see the regulators at the federal level taking a responsible approach to cooperating with the industry, because at the state level regulators proved more interested in rushing to conclusions and tripping over themselves to be first movers, paying little attention to consequences for the country.