Applying criminal law to the exchange of bitcoin on behalf of ransomware victims would create a morally shocking result of re-victimizing a victim. All lawfully operating digital currency exchanges would thereafter refuse to exchange bitcoin for ransomware victims for fear of criminal culpability.
- Perianne Boring
The law provides a remedy, charging those who threaten a victim's data for the purpose of extortion. Extending criminal liability to innocent third-party digital currency exchangers, or any other third-party financial institution, would be an utterly unwarranted and unjust misinterpretation both of law and policy.
- Perianne Boring
With Bitcoin, every transaction is publicly verified, so many risks are eliminated, including chargeback fraud or 'friendly fraud.' This is when a customer purchases something online with a credit card; waits to receive the goods or service, then requests a chargeback refund. The bank then forcibly takes the funds out of the merchant's account.
- Perianne Boring
Grief has similar side effects of alcohol consumption, such as numbness, guilt, and depression, resulting in less alert and price-sensitive customers. In addition, the funeral industry is somewhat taboo in the sense that communities in general don't communicate with one another about what are acceptable practices in this industry.
- Perianne Boring
Bitcoin has been described as a decentralized, peer-to-peer virtual currency that is used like money - it can be exchanged for traditional currencies such as the U.S. dollar or used to purchase goods or services, usually online. Unlike traditional currencies, Bitcoin operates without central authority or banks and is not backed by any government.
- Perianne Boring
After Jessica Mitford published 'The American Way of Death' in 1963, to expose the abuses in the funeral industry, a groundswell of support for government intervention followed. Under President Ronald Reagan The Funeral Rule was first enacted to protect consumers from deceptive practices, but the rule has yet to put the nail in the coffin.
- Perianne Boring
A new product, technology, or innovation - such as Bitcoin - has the potential to give rise both to frauds and high-risk investment opportunities. Potential investors can be easily enticed with the promise of high returns in a new investment space and also may be less skeptical when assessing something novel, new, and cutting-edge.
- Perianne Boring
FinCEN directs financial institutions to file suspicious activity reports (SARs) to inform law enforcement of certain types of cyber-enabled crime. As the agency charged with protecting the United States from financial crime, FinCEN's guidance does not deem financial institutions who process such transactions to be involved in a criminal activity.
- Perianne Boring
Through decentralized cryptography, Bitcoin eliminates the need for banking intermediaries, significantly lowering transaction costs, and could liberate poverty-stricken economies around the globe by providing access to capital to the one-third of humanity that is excluded from the financial world.
- Perianne Boring
The credit/debit card transaction system is antiquated, expensive, and inefficient. There are over nine steps to complete a transaction from the time a customer swipes their card to payment processing, settlement, and when the merchant finally gets paid. Every step along the way costs both the consumer and the vendor in additional fees.
- Perianne Boring
The IRS issued guidance for virtual currencies on March 25, 2014 that stated virtual currencies, including Bitcoin, are to be treated as property for federal tax purposes. This requires capital gains on virtual currencies to be recorded and reported. The Bitcoin Foundation says this could lead to unrealistic reporting.
- Perianne Boring
Many communities have turned a blind eye to what goes on inside funeral homes, as many people prefer not to know the ins and outs of the business. In addition, grieving customers in need of funeral goods and services may not be in a healthy state of mind to make financial decisions.
- Perianne Boring
Exchanging bitcoin on behalf of ransomware victims should not be construed as criminal activity by the exchanger, not as a matter of law nor as sound policy. Such an interpretation would set a precedent that would surely cause real harm to the public, to the blockchain ecosystem, and to the financial services industry as a whole.
- Perianne Boring
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