Texas cryptocurrency bill threatens financial privacy
Confusing wording and technical impracticality aside, the bill would force citizens to spy on each other
A new bill that would require persons accepting payment in cryptocurrencies to check the payor’s identity before going through with the transaction, HB 4371, has been introduced in the Texas...
We’re often asked whether that policy, articulated mid-last year by Director of the Division of Corporation Finance William Hinman, truly represents the policy of the Commission or whether it’s just the...
The Human Rights Foundation wants to help activists and journalists use Bitcoin to stay private.
Though often mischaracterized as “anonymous,” Bitcoin transactions do offer a much higher level of privacy for savvy users than traditional internet payment systems. Activists and journalists may want to add...
The Constitution Protects Software Developers and Users from Surveillance Overreach
An aggressive attempt to regulate software developers and individual users would violate our privacy and speech rights
Today we are publishing a comprehensive report on constitutional law and anonymous cryptocurrencies—what we call electronic cash—and decentralized exchange software. As Jerry argued in our report from last month, electronic...
Coin Center Travel Series: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
An overbroad classification of all cryptocurrency tokens as securities holds innovators back.
This is the latest installment of Coin Center's multi-part travel series examining how cryptocurrency is used around the world. Strolling through the bookstore one day in the busy, up-market Pavilion mall...
Coin Center files comment in CFTC proceeding on Ethereum
A few months ago LabCFTC, the division of the agency dealing with innovative financial products, put out a request for information to better understand the Ethereum network and ecosystem that...
How the CFTC can take a pro-innovation posture while maintaining orderly markets
A CFTC Commissioner responds to Coin Center’s thinking on publishing code and regulation
This past fall, I made a speech in Dubai to highlight what I believe will be a fundamental challenge for financial regulators in the coming years: how do regulators apply...
We must protect our ability to transact privately online
Without cryptocurrency, a cashless society is a surveillance society
A question we often get when talking to policymakers and congressional staff is whether cryptocurrency is anonymous. And if it is, what can be done to address it? The implication...
Coin Center Travel Series: Kyoto, Japan
Regulatory reactions following prominent cryptocurrency thefts has created a less-than-friendly environment for innovators.
This is the latest installment of Coin Center's multi-part travel series examining how cryptocurrency is used around the world. As recently as August 2018 some referred to Japan as the “the...
We demonstrated the Bitcoin Lightning Network in Congress.
Earlier today, Coin Center hosted a briefing in Congress in conjunction with the Congressional Blockchain Caucus. We covered the basics of cryptocurrency, why it’s exciting, and went through some the...