This week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) made an announcement that virtual money will officially be considered a “commodity,” meaning that they have placed currencies like Bitcoin under their jurisdiction to be taxed and regulated.

According to the press release:

“In this order, the CFTC for the first time finds that Bitcoin and other virtual currencies are properly defined as commodities. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued an Order filing and simultaneously settling charges against Coinflip, Inc. d/b/a Derivabit (Coinflip) and its chief executive officer Francisco Riordan for conducting activity related to commodity options transactions without complying with the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC Regulations, specifically, by operating a facility for the trading or processing of commodity options without complying with the CEA or CFTC Regulations otherwise applicable to swaps or conducting the activity pursuant to the CFTC’s exemption for trade options. Coinflip is based in San Francisco, California, and Riordan resides in San Francisco.”

“While there is a lot of excitement surrounding Bitcoin and other virtual currencies, innovation does not excuse those acting in this space from following the same rules applicable to all participants in the commodity derivatives markets,” Aitan Goelman, the CFTC’s director of enforcement told Bloomberg Business.

For years, governments all over the world have been attempting to tax and regulate Bitcoin, the free and anonymous currency that has been used by different people from all walks of life. Bitcoin was first popularized by the gaming community and then was later thrust into the global spotlight when it was utilized in a variety of underground markets. Given the anonymous, peer-to-peer nature of Bitcoin, it is technically physically impossible to regulate. However, over the past few years the federal government has been developing relationships with some of the big players in the Bitcoin industry, and unfortunately, many of them are selling out. Cody Wilson, 3-D printing activist and pioneer was one of the early adopters and promoters of Bitcoin, and even he has said that the Bitcoin community has “sold out” and opened up the market to federal regulation.

Wilson’s interview with Derrick Broze can be seen below:

John Vibes writes for True Activist and is an author, researcher and investigative journalist who takes a special interest in the counter culture and the drug war.

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