The recent BitLicense carve-outs for software developers and bitcoin miners seem to allow for a level of innovation free from regulation. So far, so good. At a glance, the New York Department of Financial Services seems to be on the right track. Providing a regulatory framework in which bitcoin exchanges, online wallets and merchant processing services can operate is an important step forward in the evolution of virtual currencies and legitimizes their use.
Read MorePolice forced to pay bitcoin ransom
However, when one digs deeper into the NFS BitLicense proposal, what we actually see is a regulatory framework that imposes unrealistic requirements on bitcoin users and merchants. You see, a very large part of the regulation deals with trying to remove one of the biggest benefits to society that bitcoin provides: anonymity. BitLicense, as written, forces merchants to collect names and addresses for the simplest of transactions. Can you imagine having to give your name and address at the drive through checkout just to buy a cup of coffee with Bitcoin? That's what the proposal is trying to enforce.
So just why is the anonymity aspect such a benefit to society? Since 2013, hackers have stolen over 1 billion consumer records. The estimated cost of this data theft is a staggering $5 billion dollars a year, which inevitably gets passed down to consumers and merchants in the form of higher prices and fees.
There is a global data-security crisis. Indeed, a war is being waged and that's making it harder and harder for the good guys to win. The hackers only have to succeed a small percentage of the time to make a very big dent on our society. As a result, we are in an era where securing personal information requires more and more complex security and surveillance, by merchants, banks and the government agencies.
Read MoreIs Apple Pay a bitcoin killer?
The system of credit-card processing introduced in the 1940s and 1950s, perfected in the 1970s and 1980s, was never designed for the 21st century, a century in which the Internet and the open-source community and the dark web accelerate technology innovation at a pace far more rapid than slow moving merchant and banking infrastructure can keep up with. To address this global data security crisis requires us to fundamentally re-think what it means for a consumer to spend money. As it stands today, a simple trip to the grocery store or buying gifts online at Christmas, subjects hundreds of millions of people to potential fraud, identity and credit-card theft. Crimes that may affect their credit record, their finances, indeed even their ability to work. Moreover, the current approach to addressing these problems, ring fencing, surveillance, detection and tracking is leading us as a society down a very slippery road. It's an approach that means everything we do, every dollar we spend, our location, everyone we talk to, it all needs to be monitored and tracked, relationships mapped, algorithms applied just to catch a very small number of bad actors causing a very large amount of damage.
Bitcoin solves these problems, because it does not require us to expose personal information just to go out to dinner or shop online. Every transaction is done with a bearer instrument that does not give the receiver any information that might be used or stolen to exact future payments, or perform any fraud. It's just like cash, only designed for the 21st century, designed for the world we live in now. It protects consumers from identity theft, fraud, and reduces the massive costs associated with processing transactions, opening up global economies and bringing massive new consumer markets into an integrated 21st century economy.
Read MoreWebcam hackers may be watching you
Unfortunately, the NFS BitLicense proposal explicitly strips consumers of these benefits, reducing consumer protection, since, as written, it requires bitcoin merchant-payment-processing companies to collect personal identifying information on every transaction, forcing merchants to collect it, thus destroying the huge opportunity that bitcoin presents to solve the global data-security crisis. Requiring this information on every transaction also makes transactions in bitcoin at your local retailer more complex than spending dollars or using a credit card, thus significantly impeding adoption and innovation.
View post:
The big problem with bitcoin regulations
- Google removes malware Android apps used to secretly mine bitcoin [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Bitcoin exchange MtGox liquidated [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Wannabe Litecoin Emerges as Low-Price Challenger [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- The Worlds First Bitcoin Debit Card Is Almost Here [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- How does Bitcoin work? - Bitcoin - Open source P2P money [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Bitcoin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- The Bitcoin Group #27 - China Bans Bitcoin Again - Politics - Dark Market - Bitcoin VC - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Edan Yago - Free Market Bitcoin regulation and Honduras free trade zones.mp4 - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Bitcoin vs. Political Power: The Cryptocurrency Revolution - Stefan Molyneux at TNW Conference - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Video: Roundup of This Week's Bitcoin News 25th April 2014 - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Fredagsbar med Torben Mark Pedersen - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Bitcoin and the Internet of Money - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Bitcoin for Dummies - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Bitcoin runner-up Litecoin emerges as low-price challenger [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Bitcoin or Gold? Squawk Walk Taipei- Squawkonomics - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Miner AntMiner S1 180 - 200 GH/s Nu in de Aanbieding! - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- New Bitcoin Documentary: Boom or Bust - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Bitcoin May v0.9.1 GitHub Source Code Development Visualization - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Atomic-Trade Bitcoin Exchange. AML, BSA, FinCEN compliant - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- China Bans Bitcoin Again -- Bitcoin the Movie -- Startup for Startups Raises 2,000 BTC - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- 4/24/14 - Xapo Debit Card, Russia's 1st Bitcoin Conference, Silk Road 2.0 - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- What is Bitcoin? - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- David Andolfatto, How Does Bitcoin Work? - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Australian Bitcoin traders hit by crash [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin traders hit by Mt.Gox crash [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Market Extra: Bitcoin venture capital money hasnt kept up with buzz [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin price slips as China steps up regulation [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin price slips on China regulation [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Win .33 Bitcoin ($150 or so, Depending on BTC value) - Meme game for May 1st - Take My Bitcoins - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Ron Paul on Bitcoin - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- btc.sx Bitcoin derivatives platform George Samman clip - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- 'The Rise And Rise Of Bitcoin' Filmmaker: 'There Is No Answer Yet' [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2014]
- Bitcoin the movie: It just had to happen [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Vies with New Cryptocurrencies as Coin of the Cyber Realm [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2014]
- The Bitcoin Meetup - BitcoinMKE Hosts Jeffrey Tucker - Video [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2014]
- MIT Bitcoin Expo 2014 - Video [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Expo 2014: Fireside Chat with Dr Gavin Wood - Video [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2014]
- Rise Bitcoin Singapore - Video [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2014]
- Preview: Bitcoin Authenticator - 2FA for wallets - Video [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2014]
- The Bitcoin Group #27 (Live) - China Bans Bitcoin Again - Politics - Dark Market - Bitcoin VC - Video [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2014]
- 4/25/14 - More China uncertainty, Missourian bitcoin warning, BadLepricon malware - Video [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2014]
- Money & Tech at The Rise And Rise Of Bitcoin Afterparty - Video [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2014]
- New Bitcoin student club at MIT will promote the virtual currency [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- 4/29/14 - MIT Bitcoin Project, Mt Gox revival plan, Mastercard lobbyists & Team Rubicon - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- BitCoin Dentist GoCoin Fox News Interview - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Foundation Election Hiccups -- Pathetic Ohio Bans Bitcoins -- Dogecon SF 2014 - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Slips to $420 as BTC China Halts Transactions - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- MultiSig Plus BitCoin Multi Coin Wallet looks like HUGE INVESTMENT potential! - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Bitcoin: what happens when the miners pack up their gear? [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Dark Wallet Is About to Make Bitcoin Money Laundering Easier Than Ever [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Bitcoin Talk Show #7 -- Skype BitcoinTalkShow to Call in Live! 🙂 - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Basic Bitcoin Bitches - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Gold standard vs Fiat vs Bitcoin - Truthloader - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- How to Defund the System: Bitcoin vs. the Central Banksters - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Bitcoin, Anarchy and Freedom with Roger Ver - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- MIT Goes Bitcoin-Wild [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Bitcoin Weekly 2014 April 30: Bloomberg adds Bitcoin to their market index, MIT to produce campus-wide bitcoin ... [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- 'Dark Wallet' wants to make Bitcoin even harder to trace [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Bitcoin made simple (video animation) - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Jon Matonis: Bitcoin - The future of commerce? - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- $100 in Bitcoin Going to Every MIT Undergrad - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- The Rise of Digital Currency - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Money Goes Virtual: The Bitcoin Bourse - Video [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- Bitcoin Lights with LIFX - Video [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- Bitcoin: How We Got Here and Where We Are Going [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2014]
- 5/1/14 - Larry Summers warns critics, Paym system & Bitcoin Center NYC roundtable - Video [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2014]
- On est Connect S2 #07 1/2 : BitCoin et Musique sur Internet - Video [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2014]
- MIT Undergrads To Receive $100 Worth Of Bitcoin This Fall - Video [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2014]
- Why it only took ME less than 2 minutes to believe in Bitcoin - Video [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2014]
- Bitcoin Basics and Regulation Thoughts from NH Liberty Forum - Bruce Fenton - Video [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2014]
- PRIMER CAJERO DE BITCOIN EN BIT CENTER DE TIJUANA - Video [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2014]
- Yelp adds Bitcoin acceptance to business listings - Video [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2014]
- Bitcoin A Terrorist Threat? Counterterrorism Program Names Virtual Currencies As Area Of Interest [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2014]
- How Does Bitcoin Works - Video [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2014]
- 10 Things You Didn't Know About BitCoin - Video [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2014]
- BITCOIN The Future of Money - Video [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Miner Review - Video [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2014]
- The Bitcoin Group #28 (Live) - Yelp Lists Bitcoin - MIT Bitcoin $100 - Dark Wallet - Ohio Bans BTC - Video [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2014]
- Bitcoin: Gary North is Mentally Deranged And Bitcoin Will Change Everything - Video [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2014]
- Who is the Bitcoin Warlord? - Video [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2014]