Quote from: xf2_org on June 10, 2011, 07:51:50 PM

Quote from: jerfelix on June 10, 2011, 06:22:49 PM

To meet the definition of an MSB, a person must conduct more than $1,000 in business with one person in one or more transactions (in one category of activity listed above) on any one day. A business is an MSB for each activity for which it meets this threshold. However, there is one exception. No activity threshold applies to the definition of money transmitter. A person that engages as a business in the transfer of funds is a money transmitter and an MSB, regardless of the amount of transfer activity. (see http://www.fincen.gov/financial_institutions/msb/pdf/FinCENfactsheet.pdf )

Since bitcoins are "stored value" and not directly money, there is a FinCEN ruling that is relevant:
http://www.fincen.gov/statutes_regs/guidance/html/fin-2009-r001.html

Read the ruling to mean this: A company "ABC" could be created that acts as a "merchant payment processor". ABC sells point-of-sale terminals that connect to ABC's servers to process pre-paid bitcoin cards. ABC does not convert currency into bitcoins, because if it did then it would be a money service business or money transmitter.

Then, when the cards are used it works like this:

Merchants [M1, M2 ... Mn] give payment instructions to ABC (pay Mx X bitcoin for goods or or services sold on at ; )

ABC submits payment instructions to BitBank for backoffice processing (remit X bitcoins to ABC re: ).
ABC receives bitcoins from BitBank and remits them to Merchants (remit X bitcoins to Mx re: ).

ABC collects fees from Merchants for providing this service.

ABC is not a MSB or MT.

I'm open to argument on this reading.

As an aside, bitbank.com btcbank.com and bitcoinbank.com are all already registered to 3 different entities.

PHEW all caught up on this thread.