Quote from: DeathAndTaxes on January 01, 2014, 11:04:35 PM

Quote from: BCB on January 01, 2014, 10:57:53 PM

DeathAndTaxes

You bring up a HUGE issue. There is no Regulator at the Federal Level for "money transmitters" the "Money Service Business" category that FinCEN put the bitcoin industry in with the March 18th Guidance.

This is some thing the National Money Transmitter Assocaition is trying to address with upcoming "Industry Symposium for Legislative Action - (ISLA)" February 18, 2014 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST in Washington DC.

I agree to a certain extent. I generally oppose new regulation but the current situation is just a nightmare of asinine proportions. They are less than 100 companies in the world which have licenses in all fifty states. There is some legal opinion that is is EASIER and cheaper to form a new bank (or buy an existing bank or credit union) and thus bypass the entire issue because banks and credit unions are exempt from MSB requirements (although they have their own) and exempt from state regulations.

Still this has been a problem for twenty years now. Decades before Bitcoin was even born there have been attempts to create a single national license because the current system is broken but all attempts to date have been futile.

The states certainly don't want to give up that power and control. The existing players who have already gone through that nightmare don't want it to go away. PayPal LOVES the excessive, asinine regulation. It all but guarantees there will never be a PayPal direct competitor because the burden on any startup is simply too high and without a startup the risk is too much to dump the tens of millions to jump right to the next stage of the game. The current MSB/MT regulation is a massive economic boom for the GreenDots, PayPals, and Western Unions of the world. They will move massive sums of money in lobbying to kill any attempt that opens the flood gates for competitors.

Maybe this time will be different, it certainly is needed.

If I'm reading this right, you are predicting the inevitable failure of Bitcoin as a mainstream financial tool. Start-ups can't afford the cost of entry and power-brokers with deep pockets will crush new legislation, yes?