[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-291907-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-291907-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","making-bitcoin-legal","Making Bitcoin Legal","","Making Bitcoin Legal examines what would change if existing financial and anti-money-laundering laws were enforced on powerful cryptocurrency intermediaries, especially bitcoin exchanges. It argues that applying FinCEN-style rules and sensible case law could reduce major harms—extortion, money laundering, and other crimes—without requiring changes to the Bitcoin protocol, and might even rely largely on information already publicly available. The paper also explores how context shapes payment protocol behavior and practical options for regulators.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & 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would happen if current laws and enforcement practices were applied equally to bitcoin exchanges, and how that could reduce the worst excesses of the cryptocurrency system.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"Does the proposed legal approach require changing the Bitcoin protocol or the law?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"The paper argues the change would not involve changing the protocol, and might not even require changing the law—publishing existing public information in a clearer format may be sufficient.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How does the paper suggest exchanges could be regulated under financial rules?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"It proposes bringing exchanges within the financial system by applying anti-money-laundering requirements, including know-your-customer (KYC) checks such as government-issued ID and proof of 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Shumailov and Mansoor Ahmed Cambridge University Computer Laboratory  \nWhen you come to a fork in the road, take it { Yogi Berra  \nAbstract  \nWhat would happen if the existing laws were actually enforced on the rich and powerful? Social reformers often clamour for new rules but ignore the huge changes that might happen if our existing rules were applied equally to all. And in the brave new world of ICOs and thousand percent cryptocurrency in􀀍ation, the rich and powerful are the bitcoin exchanges. What would happen if FinCEN regulations and the laws against money laundering were applied to them, and extended by sensible case law? We argue that this could mitigate most of the worst excesses of cryptocurrency world, and turn a dangerous system into a much safer one. The curious thing about this change is that it would not involve changing the protocol. It would not even necessarily involve changing the law. It might be enough to take some information that's already public, publishing it again in a more easily understood format.  \n1 Introduction  \nBitcoin set out to provide a working online currency outside the control of governments, and has developed from a cypherpunk toy through a way to buy drugs online to a means of getting 􀀍ight capital out of countries with exchange controls { to an investment product quoted on major exchanges. It has been criticised for wasting a lot of electricity, for being a classic investment bubble, for providing no consumer protection to its users, and for facilitating crimes { from old crimes such as drug dealing, to new ones such as ransomware.  \nThe purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we discuss how the law might actually regulate bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies so as to provide the bene􀀌ts, ranging from low-cost international money transfers and decentralised resilient operation to competitive innovation, while mitigating the harms { speci􀀌cally the use of cryptocurrencies in extortion, money laundering and other crimes, and the di􀀎culty that crime victims experience in getting redress. We show that where the relevant case law is used as a basis, it becomes much easier to track stolen bitcoins than previously thought.  \nSecond, we use this discussion to illustrate that the characteristics of a payment protocol can depend much more sensitively than one might expect on the surrounding context. This may be of scienti􀀌c interest to the protocols community, and also of practical interest to regulators. Payment systems su􀀋er from strong network e􀀋ects and it may be harder than it seems to sustain a government-backed `GoodCoin' in competition with established systems such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. It is therefore important to explore the practical options for taming the systems that already exist.  \nOn the policy front, we have repeatedly seen a pattern whereby the promoter of an online platform claims that old laws will not apply. The Internet was supposed to interpret censorship and route around it; yet child sex abuse images are banned almost everywhere. Napster set out to free all music from the surly bonds of copyright; it was closed down. Uber was going to create a single taxi 􀀌rm that worked worldwide from a convenient app, regardless of local legacy monopolies; yet when legacy taxi drivers complained about their new competitors working sixteen hours a day, and passenger safety issues piled up, Uber was banned in one city after another. Yet such innovations often make a real di􀀋erence once a new legal equilibrium is achieved. The music-company ma􀀌as have yielded to Spotify and YouTube, which make most music available to anyone who'll listen to occasional ads; competition from Uber has cut Cambridge taxi fares by over 20%; and the Internet has made many more good things available to all.  \nThe key is making online challengers obey the law { and the laws may not need to change much, or even at all. Fixing new problems using existing laws is usually ","cbCailBCDgaWogF7","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCailBCDgaWogF7","pdf",179122,"English","# Introduction\n## Ideal Regulation\n### Clayton's case","[{\"question\":\"What is the main question the paper asks about enforcing existing laws on bitcoin?\",\"answer\":\"It asks what would happen if current laws and enforcement practices were applied equally to bitcoin exchanges, and how that could reduce the worst excesses of the cryptocurrency system.\"},{\"question\":\"Does the proposed legal approach require changing the Bitcoin protocol or the law?\",\"answer\":\"The paper argues the change would not involve changing the protocol, and might not even require changing the law—publishing existing public information in a clearer format may be sufficient.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the paper suggest exchanges could be regulated under financial rules?\",\"answer\":\"It proposes bringing exchanges within the financial system by applying anti-money-laundering requirements, including know-your-customer (KYC) checks such as government-issued ID and proof of address.\"}]","Making Bitcoin Legal | PDF",33]