The U.S. government may be headed for a showdown with the Bitcoin community.
The arrest of two Florida men last week in an alleged money-laundering scheme casts doubt on the cryptocurrency’s ability to pass regulatory muster in the United States. Michael Abner Espinoza and Pascal Reid were arrested for operating an alleged unlicensed money-transmitting service.
”The use of bitcoins in the transactions is a new technological flourish to this very old crime,” Miami Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez-Rundle said in a statement after the arrests were announced, Bloomberg News reported on Feb. 10.
The recent high-profile arrests of Charlie Shrem and Ross Ulbricht, both connected to the Silk Road digital black market, suggests that Bitcoin remains firmly in the sights of federal currency regulators and law-enforcement officials.
To learn more about the potential for Bitcoin to be subjected to increased federal oversight, read the latest Bitcoin Tracker by clicking here.
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