"Bitcoin may be an item of value by one or more people" really?? This article pretends that the sole purpose of bitcoin isn't to store value. And the day that people begin using runescape cash/microsoft points to exchange securities I'm sure that SEC will be on their ass too.
You should look at Eve online then - there have been securities issued there for years in their currency ISK. Or second-life for that matter. Not seen the SEC making a fuss about either. And both of those can be traded for USD (very openly in the case of second-life currency).
The fact that something CAN be used as money/currency isn't sufficient for it to be legally considered as BEING money or currency. That's what you're missing. It doesn't matter what your intention, my intention, Satoshi's intention or MPOE-PR's intention is when we hold/buy/sell/trade BTC. What matters is how your jurisdiction defines BTC. In the US that's now tending towards it being treated as being money/currency - in at least some situations. In other jurisdictions (e.g. the UK) at present it is NOT considered as being a currency or money and we have none of the regulatory limitations that the US are attempting to impose (though, of course, that's always subject to change).
Eve's will be regulated the day that they exchange millions of US dollars worth of their currency through security trading daily. As far as i know the Eve economy moves around $50,000 daily, so not much to be regulated. According to bitcoinwatch Bitcoins market cap is over 1 Billion USD at current rates.
Bitcoin may be considered currency by the feds or it might not but I think we all know its only a matter of time before it is considered currency so why would we waste our time/money with exchanges knowing that they are going to get shut down the second they do clearly define bitcoin as money/causing share prices to plummet.
Also about the UK not having the regulatory environment the US has have you seen this link?
https://www.sec.gov/about/offices/oia/oia_cooparrangements.shtmlThis to me says that it really doesn't matter where you are hosting this service, once it becomes a big enough problem the feds will go after it.
I still think the only solutions are at least try to comply with SEC, or use something decentralized like colored coins that cant be shut down affecting shareholders.
Shocking as it may seem to every US citizen, your country does NOT have the right to expect everyone else to jump through hoops to ensure we don't happen to provide something to you which your government would prefer you not to have.
I think most US citizens will agree that it is bullshit that the US implies its laws on other countries especially when not even involving US citizens but then again those countries did agree to enforce them.