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BloombergBusiness is reporting that Bitcoin Is Officially a Commodity, According to U.S. Regulator:
Virtual money is officially a commodity, just like crude oil or wheat.
So says the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which on Thursday announced it had filed and settled charges against a Bitcoin exchange for facilitating the trading of option contracts on its platform.
"In this order, the CFTC for the first time finds that Bitcoin and other virtual currencies are properly defined as commodities," according to the press release.
While market participants have long discussed whether Bitcoin could be defined as a commodity, and the CFTC has long pondered whether the cryptocurrency falls under its jurisdiction, the implications of this move are potentially numerous.
By this action, the CFTC asserts its authority to provide oversight of the trading of cryptocurrency futures and options, which will now be subject to the agency's regulations. In the event of wrongdoing, such as futures manipulation, the CFTC will be able to bring charges against bad actors.
Also covered by The Register.
This is not so much a change of official position as it is an assertion by the CFTC that it is able to regulate this market. The bitcoin market has been basically going sideways this year. Does this decision affect your [planned] use of bitcoin in any way?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by maxwell demon on Saturday September 19 2015, @04:19PM
From the summary, I conclude that what it regulates are bitcoin derivates like options and futures. I think the majority of bitcoin users are not interested in such tools.
So if you just buy or sell bitcoins, you should be unaffected. But if you sell a paper saying "I will buy 10 bitcoins for 500 dollars from the holder of this certificate next year" you will be subject to regulation.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 1) by Francis on Saturday September 19 2015, @05:01PM
Buying and selling should probably be OK, but hopefully this means we can get a crackdown on people talking up the currency in order to benefit from rises in demand.
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Saturday September 19 2015, @08:21PM
hopefully this means we can get a crackdown on people talking
I sure miss the first amendment and the rest of my freedoms.
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 1) by Francis on Saturday September 19 2015, @11:05PM
The first amendment hasn't applied to this in decades, if ever. It's no different from any other scam. If you're going to talk the value up then there are rules you have to follow. One of those rules is disclosure.
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Sunday September 20 2015, @01:15AM
If you're going to talk the value up then there are rules you have to follow.
Value is totally subjective.
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 1) by Francis on Sunday September 20 2015, @02:24AM
OK, then you're an idiot. The fact that the value is subjective is why the rules exist in the first place. If the value weren't wholly dependent upon how much other people are willing to give for it, we wouldn't need rules telling people how they are and aren't allowed to promote the commodity as they'd be pointless.
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Sunday September 20 2015, @03:09AM
Value being subjective, I ought to be able to express my opinion of its value without restriction. If you don't want a Bitcoin, don't buy one. (It's just like an abortion or a gay marriage.)
I really can't believe we've gotten to the point where there are sentences that start with "hopefully we can get a crackdown on people talking" and people don't bat an eye.
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 20 2015, @08:29AM
Just to note, the verb, "talk up" is a phrasal verb [wikipedia.org]
a verb and a particle and/or a preposition co-occur forming a single semantic unit. This semantic unit cannot be understood based upon the meanings of the individual parts in isolation, but rather it can be taken as a whole
Talk Up [wordnik.com]
To talk about (something or someone) in such a way as to make the thing or person sound better than it actually is.
"talking up" can imply fraud (though not always). It's semantically distinct from "talk".
Talk [wordnik.com]
To articulate (words)
Posting anonymously as I don't want to get caught up in the flame war.
As is often the case, the argument took hold because you two were actually talking about two distinct things, while thinking you were talking about the same thing.
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Sunday September 20 2015, @10:01PM
As is often the case, the argument took hold because you two were actually talking about two distinct things, while thinking you were talking about the same thing.
Well, I think it's actually that we have a different value system. I don't think there should be any restrictions on "talking up" stuff, either. If my uncle calls me up and says pork bellies are the next hot thing, I don't think anybody can objectively look at that and call him right or wrong and say he's committed a crime. If I agree I can buy pork bellies or if I disagree I can just not buy a pork belly. Same if it's Bitcoin. (As a matter of fact, my uncle has for years told my dad about "next hot things," and I have emailed my uncle telling him about Bitcoin.)
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 20 2015, @06:19PM
Like always, your rights end where others' rights begin. Your right to express to others that something is more valuable than it really is ends the moment you start trying to deprive others of more money than that something is actually worth. Similarly, your right to say whatever you want ends at the point where it starts harming others.
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Sunday September 20 2015, @09:54PM
Your right to express to others that something is more valuable than it really is
Because value is subjective, it is impossible to assert that something is more valuable than it really is.
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 20 2015, @12:46PM
There's no mention of BitCoin in the Constitution, so therefore it's unconstitutional and bad for all the freedoms we stand for!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 19 2015, @08:04PM
The current economy model needs cheap commodities. Therefore they are manipulated lower mostly by futures market.