Law Commons^™

Place Your Bets: The Legal Integration Of Sports Betting With Cryptocurrency, Andrew Topps

UNH Sports Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tragedy Of The Energy Commons: How Government Regulation Can Help Mitigate The Environmental And Public Health Consequences Of Cryptocurrency Mining, Jeff Thomson

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental & Innovation Law

The use of cryptocurrencies in daily life has continued to rise over the last decade and shows no signs of slowing down. Although cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, provide numerous tangible benefits to society, the process of mining these cryptocurrencies is extremely energy intensive. Accordingly, a tragedy of the energy commons has resulted whereby the monetary incentive to mine cryptocurrencies has distorted our collective ability to care for our shared energy resources. The current system allows for industrious individuals to set up cryptocurrency mines in regions that have access to plentiful and cheap energy sources, utilize this energy to power their …

Does Bitcoin Use Affect Crime Rates?, Kevin Keane

The Corinthian

Bitcoin is the most widely used cryptocurrency in the world because of its decentralized network that completes user-to-user transactions, eliminating the need for intermediaries. During 2017, the volume of Bitcoin transactions totaled $94.3 trillion. Bitcoin transactions are recorded in a public database called the blockchain. Although the blockchain can keep track of how many transactions there are, it can’t identify the people involved in transactions. The lack of identity increases the anonymity of Bitcoin transactions, making it less detectable when used for crime. Using the Uniform Crime Reporting’s state-level crime rate data and blockchain’s Bitcoin transaction information, I estimate the …

New Things Under The Sun: How The Cftc Is Using Virtual Currencies To Expand Its Jurisdiction, James Michael Blakemore

Arkansas Law Review

A decade has passed since Bitcoin solved a fundamental problem plaguing virtual currencies: How to ensure, without resort to financial intermediaries or other trusted central authorities, that a unit of digital currency can be spent only once. In that time, Bitcoin has inspired countless follow-on projects. Some have attempted to improve the technology’s potential use for digital cash, by, for example, increasing the number of transactions processed per second or improving user privacy. Others have strayed further from Bitcoin’s original intent, building on blockchain—Bitcoin’s central innovation—to enable distributed computing and so-called smart contracting, decentralized lending, governance, data storage, and digital …

A Coffee Break For Bitcoin, Margaret Ryznar

Indiana Law Journal

For many, the appeal of bitcoin is in its detachment from government regulation. However, the Coffee bonding theory, which initially arose in the context of foreign stocks, suggests certain benefits of regulation for bitcoin, including increased legitimacy. By invoking the Coffee bonding theory, this Article offers another perspective on the regulation of bitcoin.

Bitcoin Is Speech: Notes Toward Developing The Conceptual Contours Of Its Protection Under The First Amendment, Justin S. Wales, Richard J. Ovelmen

University of Miami Law Review

Bitcoin permits users to engage in direct expressive activity with one another without the need for centralized intermediaries. It does so by utilizing an open and community-managed global database called a blockchain. While much of the literature about Bitcoin has focused on its use as a form of digital payment, this Article suggests an expanded understanding by demonstrating its use as a protocol network, not unlike the internet, that can be used to extend the possible range of human expression. After developing an appreciation of the technology, this Article recommends a framework for applying the First Amendment to Bitcoin and …

Bitcoin: Order Without Law In The Digital Age, John O. Mcginnis, Kyle Roche

Indiana Law Journal

Modern law makes currency a creature of the state and ultimately the value of its currency depends on the public’s trust in that state. While some nations are more capable than others at instilling public trust in the stability of their monetary institutions, it is nonetheless impossible for any legal system to make the pre-commitments necessary to completely isolate the governance of its money supply from political pressure. This proposition is true not only today, where nearly all government institutions manage their money supply in the form of central banking, but also true of past private banking regimes circulating their …

Bitcoin, Virtual Currencies, And The Struggle Of Law And Regulation To Keep Pace

Marquette Law Review

At less than a decade old, Bitcoin and other virtual currencies have had a major societal impact, and proven to be a unique payment systems challenge for law enforcement, financial regulatory authorities worldwide, and the investment community. Rapid introduction and diffusion of technological changes throughout society, such as the blockchain that serves as Bitcoin’s crypto-foundation, continue to exceed the ability of law and regulation to keep pace. During 2017 alone, the market price of Bitcoin rose 1,735%, from about $970 to $14,292, causing an investor feeding frenzy. As of September 11, 2018, a total of 1,935 cryptocurrencies are reported, having …

A Bit Like Cash: Understanding Cash-For-Bitcoin Transactions Through Individual Vendors, Stephanie J. Robberson, Mark R. Mccoy

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

As technology improves and economies become more globalized, the concept of currency has evolved. Bitcoin, a cryptographic digital currency, has been embraced as a secure and convenient type of money. Due to its security and privacy for the user, Bitcoin is a good tool for conducting criminal trades. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has regulations in place to make identification information of Bitcoin purchasers accessible to law enforcement, but enforcing these rules with cash-for-Bitcoin traders is difficult. This study surveyed cash-for-Bitcoin vendors in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico to determine personal demographic information, knowledge of …

Tax Compliance In A Decentralizing Economy, Manoj Viswanathan

Georgia State University Law Review

Tax compliance in the United States has long relied on information from centralized intermediaries—the financial institutions,employers, and brokers that help ensure income is reported and taxes are paid. Yet while the IRS remains tied to these centralized entities,consumers and businesses are not. New technologies, such as sharing economy platforms (companies such as Airbnb, Uber, and Instacart)and the blockchain (the platform on which various cryptocurrencies are based) are providing new, decentralized options for exchanging goods and services.

Without legislative and agency intervention, these technologies pose a critical threat to the reporting system underlying domestic and international tax compliance. Until now, legal …

Typhoid Mario: Video Game Piracy As Viral Vector And National Security Threat, Andrew V. Moshirnia

Indiana Law Journal

Current academic and policy discussions regarding video game piracy focus on the economic losses inherent to copyright infringement. Unfortunately, this approach neglects the most significant implication of video game piracy: malware distribution. Copyright-motivated efforts to shut down file-sharing sites do little to reduce piracy and actually increase viral malware infection. Pirated video games are an ideal delivery device for malware, as users routinely launch unverified programs and forego virus detection. The illicit nature of the transaction forces users to rely almost entirely on the reputation of websites, uploaders, and other users to determine if a file is safe to download. …

Bringing Continuity To Cryptocurrency: Commercial Law As A Guide To The Asset Categorization Of Bitcoin, Evan Hewitt

Seattle University Law Review

This Note will undertake to analyze bitcoin under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) and the Internal Revenue Code (IRC)—two important sources of commercial law—to see whether any existing asset categories adequately protect bitcoin’s commercial viability. This Note will demonstrate that although commercial law dictates that bitcoin should—nay must—be regulated as a currency in order to sustain its existence, the very definition of currency seems to preclude that from happening. Therefore, this Note will recommend that we experiment with a new type of asset that receives currency-like treatment, specifically designed for cryptocurrencies, under which bitcoin can be categorized in order to …

Bitcoin, The Law And Emerging Public Policy: Towards A 21st Century Regulatory Scheme, Gregory M. Karch

Florida A & M University Law Review

Bitcoin is the world's first decentralized digital currency. According to Lawrence Lessig, cryptography is "the most important technological breakthrough in the last one thousand years" and will be transformative. Bitcoin, capitalizing on cryptography, is a revolutionary digital currency protocol--a software system capable of tracking financial transactions without the need for a third party intermediary. The Bitcoin software is a "community-driven open source project released under an MIT license.”

This paper begins by briefly reviewing the mechanics of Bitcoin in Section I. Section II then surveys the rapidly expanding uses of Bitcoin, as well as the emerging application of Bitcoin. Since …

Bitcoin: The Economic Case For A Global, Virtual Currency Operating In An Unexplored Legal Framework, Jonathan B. Turpin

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Bitcoin is a virtual currency created by programmers, which is produced at a predetermined and knowable rate to simulate a limited resource. Its value is derived from the trust of its users and is protected by its limited nature and the cryptography by which the currency is secured and authenticated. Bitcoin has been, and continues to be, used by some for the purchase of illegal substances and in furtherance of crimes. Because Bitcoin is not issued by a central bank or government, its use entails risks, both legal and otherwise, that have not previously been explored. Nonetheless, Bitcoin possesses significant …

Speculative Tech: The Bitcoin Legal Quagmire & The Need For Legal Innovation, Paul H. Farmer Jr.

Journal of Business & Technology Law

No abstract provided.