Bitcoin: Declining to Regulate? Incredible.

RuecanOnRails · September 10, 2013

A recent article I'd like to share in regards to Canada's direction of Bitcoin adoption, use, and regulatory stance. This may lead to Canada being home to more Bitcoin startups than our neighbors to the South.

Declining to Regulate? Incredible.

by Jeffrey Tucker

When has a regulatory agency ever declined the opportunity to put the screws to a new business venture? It’s been a long time since anything like that slipped by in the United States. The country in question here is Canada, which, despite its many socialist structures, increasingly might be dubbed the “land of the freer.”

I have claimed for years that there is no unregulated product or service in the U.S. economy, and I have yet to be proven wrong- and regulators are always looking for more chances to muck things up, particularly in new and innovative industries such as crypto-finance.

Well, this you will not believe. A company named QuickBt allows people to use their Interac debit cards to pay with the digital currency Bitcoin to any vendor or through email. Before opening its doors, QuickBt approached FinTRAC, Canada’s financial and monetary regulating that guards against money laundering.

QuickBt explained what it does in great detail. It “provides real time purchasing of small amounts of crypto-currency using an INTERAC debit card” and it “facilitates online checkouts where merchants accept Bitcoin while consumers hold debit card balances.”

Upon considering these features, this was the conclusion of FinTRAC: “it does not appear that your business is engaged as an MSB [Money Service Business] in Canada as per the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act and its associated Regulations. Therefore, you cannot register your entity with us.”

Jaw. On. Floor.