Well this just about wraps it up for Classic, and this chapter of the Great Schism saga in general.

Seldom in the history of Bitcoin have so many Gavinistas been so utterly rekt and so completely pwnd.


http://www.riddellwilliams.com/blog/articles/post/hard-fork-conspiracy-treacherous

"If either the Bitcoin Classic or the BitcoinXT plan (or both) goes forward, the creators of the replacement software could face serious legal consequences and potentially criminal liability for their actions. Surprisingly, unlike Satoshi, the mysterious creator of the original Bitcoin software who has remained anonymous and therefore outside the reach of law enforcement, the developers of both Bitcoin Classic and BitcoinXT are publicly named, many of whom reside in the United States.

Requirement for Creators to Register with FinCEN

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) is a bureau of the United States Department of Treasury that is charged with combatting domestic and international money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes. FinCEN has issued numerous guidance and interpretations of the applicability of regulations implementing the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) to persons creating virtual currencies.

Bitcoin Classic and BitcoinXT (meaning in this case the new resulting currency itself rather than the software) would likely be considered by FinCEN to be a new convertible virtual currency. FinCEN has made it clear that a creator of such convertible virtual currency, who issues such currency in order to sell those units for either real currency or its equivalent (including presumably an exchange with current bitcoin), is deemed to be a money transmitter. In the case of BitcoinXT, a website names the specific developers who have final say over the currency. The Bitcoin Classic development team is also publicly named. Under this approach, the creators of Bitcoin Classic or BitcoinXT would need to register with FinCEN as a Money Service Business (“MSB”). Failure to register can result in imprisonment of not more than 5 years, as well as civil penalties. 31 U.S.C. § 5330(e) and 31 C.F.R. § 103.41(e); 18 U.S.C § 1960(b)(1)(B). This is in addition to potential state penalties, as certain states also regulate virtual currency creators.

Requirement to Include AML Protocols in Bitcoin Classic or BitcoinXT

In addition to the registration requirements, an MSB is required to maintain effective anti-money laundering (AML) programs, recordkeeping, and reporting of suspicious activities. In order to do so, the MSB must know who its customers are.

These requirements will require the replacement Bitcoin protocol to maintain the personal identifying information of its users. This can presumably be done through the software code, and is similar to the current information and processes currently maintained by exchangers of bitcoin.

The adherence to such requirements will be a large deviation from the current Bitcoin protocol which does not maintain personally identifiable information about its users. The inclusion of such information would make Bitcoin Classic and BitcoinXT much more accepted by financial institutions, but runs counter to the essence of bitcoin. Bitcoin’s creator designed bitcoin to allow peer-to-peer financial exchange without the use of financial intermediaries and all the complexities involved with such intermediaries, such as identifying the users."