Exciting news from the world of Bitcoin this Tax Cattle Day. Today is the day, with fear in our heart, we submit to the human farmers who fleece us under threat of violence. But today Fr33 Aid is making the courageous move of declaring their financial independence by willfully and publicly severing their ties with the IRS, forsaking all the banking privileges that entails, and announcing themselves as an entirely bitcoin based organization. As far as I know they are the first charitable organization to do this. I hope you can appreciate how radical this is.

Many organizations seek non-profit recognition from the IRS in an attempt to protect themselves from asset confiscation. In April 2012, Fr33 Aid applied for this privileged status, but since then the process has been nothing but a bureaucratic nightmare. Today Fr33 Aid announced they have abandoned their IRS application and adopted bitcoin as their primary financial instrument.

Fr33 Aid Treasurer, Teresa Warmke said:

“Now that there are ways for us to do banking without government involvement, we decided fulfilling (IRS demands) would not be a responsible way for Fr33 Aid to spend its money nor for our volunteers to spend their time.”

They determined that their attempt to comply with the IRS’s confusing demands was not only unnecessary, but counterproductive to their mission of supporting volunteers who provide first aid and educational services at liberty-oriented events, and demonstrating the value of voluntary mutual aid. By making this bold transition into a bitcoin based organization they will be able circumvent the complex and burdensome requirements of state regulated banks, retain complete control over their assets, and focus entirely on their important mission. Teresa adds:

“It feels great to stop doing business with government agencies now!”

This as an important step toward the development of a robust non-profit sector in the bitcoin economy. Further, Fr33 Aid’s Director of Operations, Dr. Stephanie Murphy and Treasurer Teresa Warmke will participate in a panel about Bitcoin for Non-profit Organizations at the Bitcoin 2013 conference in San Jose, CA next month. They will be joined by Angela Keaton of AntiWar.com and Carla Gericke of the Free State Project.

Fr33 Aid is keeping their current bank account in order to accept dollar donations via check, credit card, PayPal and Dwolla, but the account will be kept as empty as possible to minimize the risk of either bank or government confiscation in the future. Teresa says:

“We don’t consider any of these payment methods as trustworthy as direct bitcoin donations. In the future, any donations we receive via traditional banking methods will be converted to bitcoin in a timely manner.”

Fr33 Aid is still committed to the level of transparency that the state requires from recognized non-profit organizations. They publish an annual report on their site with at least as much information as is normally disclosed on IRS Form 990.

You can send Fr33 Aid bitcoin donations to: 1Fr33Aidr4gokeCcHHxbnDi8vasKHEaRUm

Tags: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Not Bombs, Fr33 Aid, IRS, Stephanie Murphy, Tax Cattle Day, tax day, Teresa Warmke