Remember that Pirate40 was charged by the SEC for violating securities law. Securities laws do apply to bitcoin businesses. Clearly there is a difference between a BTC-denominated security and BTC -- but I am very much unconvinced that securities regulation do not apply to pertinent businesses.
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So, what are you saying here? Of course SEC laws apply to anyone purporting to sell an investment scheme. He could have been involved in a 'potato' based investment scheme and the SEC would have gotten involved because he was promoting an investment scheme. Mt Gox was not promoting an investment scheme. They are an exchange. The Pirate40 example has no relation to Mt Gox, which is what I am trying to explain to you.
In my view, this would very much violate the spirit of securities regulation. The fact that BTC is not backed by any asset does not explicitly allow businesses to engage in fraud.
What is
this? What would violate the spirit of securities regulation? The reason the SEC got involved with Pirate40 isn't because the coins were stolen, it was because he promoted an investment scheme and then stole coins. If Pirate40 had an exchange and used it to steal coins, the FBI would have gotten involved. It would not have been an SEC matter. I'm confused as to how this example convinces you that securities law applies.....