First Laundering Case Involving Bitcoin: Digital Currency Not Money
- Bitcoin digital currency has become a popular method of transferring funds to and from online casinos
- Bitcoin more akin to poker chips than cash according to expert testimony
- Expert was being paid $3000 in Bitcoin to testify
- Believed to be the first case tying Bitcoin and money laundering
Bitcoin has become a popular method of moving money in and out of one’s online wagering account over the past year but now the anonymous digit currency has come under fire by law enforcement.
A Barry University professor, Charles Evans, testified Friday at a money laundering trial in Miami, Florida, that Bitcoin could not be considered money under Florida law and was more akin to poker chips, Silocon Angle reports.
Michell Espinoza is on trial for illegally selling and laundering $1,500 worth of Bitcoins to undercover detectives who claimed they wanted to use them to buy stolen credit card numbers.
“Basically, it’s poker chips that people are willing to buy from you,” the economics professor testified. Ironically, Evans was being paid $3000 in Bitcoin to testify.
Evans also claims there is lack of regulation in the United States pertaining to the anonymous digital currency, which is not backed by a central bank.
The case is believed to be the first one involving money laundering and Bitcoin.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
