US Government To Sell $10 Million Worth Of Confiscated Bitcoins
According to a report published by Coindesk a US court decided to sell approximately 500 Bitcoins (plus 500 Bitcoin Cash) seized last year in an opioid drug case.
The details of the case aren't very relevant for this article (although, obviously, they are important per se and you should check the link above if you want to find out more) but the fact that we're talking about Bitcoin is. At the moment of seizing, the total value was about $500,000.
Now it's more than $10 million. And the sale will be made by the government.
This raises a few very interesting questions:
- will government pay taxes for the profit made by this sale?
- does this legitimates the use of Bitcoin as an asset? As a currency? As property?
- since the initial state of the seized Bitcoin was "dirty" (they were involved in a drug operation), will this "whiten" them? In other words, by selling "dirty" Bitcoin, the government basically does money laundering?
Recently, Bulgaria was facing a similar situation, only their quantity of Bitcoin will worth today $3 billion.
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Excellent Post @DragosRoua... Very Impressive writing, especially Your specific questions below:
REALLY Good Questions to be asked...
Well Done @DragosRoua !!
Post Edit... ReSTEEMed...
Cheers Again !!
on it, thanks
This is really a very huge number. We have to be more cautious about bitcoins now.
Maybe the US Govt can use the proceeds to help put a miniscule dent in our enormous national debt of $20 Trillion....nah why do something silly like that when they can use it to pay for weapons systems to kill people in foreign countries.
Bitcoin has been legitimate prior its creation. Just kidding, but these are serious thoughts.
I bet you the government will NOT be paying taxes on them, because they decide the rules, which would be so typical of them.
good catch. government imposes tax, but they don't pay. who can impose them penalty. they trade people. good interesting post.
Government stole wealth from people who were only accused of malum prohibitum crimes. The BTC is sullied by government involvement, not the drugs.
Very intriguing, really opens up some serious questions. How far can we go in treating bitcoin and other cryptos like fiat? Are they interchangeable for all legal purposes? For now bitcoin enjoys relatively little regulation, but do you think cases like this could motivate the government to try to intervene in the market for bitcoin?
I do not know. That's why I'm asking questions. It's certainly a strange case that legitimates the asset, but, on the other hand, creates a "money laundering"-like operation at the highest possible level.
government can do anything it wants to.
the rules that apply to us do not apply to them.
Maybe I'm oversimplifying it, but as long as you or I can sell and trade it, regardless of origin, the government should be able to do the same, even if it's money laundering.
Either everyone, or no one, there are no place for exceptions - that is my general rule of thumb.
And I'm for "everyone", because I'm not a fan of regulations et al.
Of course I'd prefer if the money made by this would go into the national budget and would be spent for things that actually benefit people. That way, even whitening money has some justification. Bad money "made into" good stuff.
By "legitimate" I was referring to the government banning Bitcoin at some point in the future. If there is a precedent of them using it, then it can't be banned. And future regulations should support free movement of Bitcoin, based on the same precedent. I'm also all in for "everyone".
Holy shit, I'd love it happening, then.
It'd be lovely to see they (metaphorically) kicking the chair from below themselves.