<p>In the United States there is no existing legislation that explicitly makes bitcoins or bitcoin-like currencies illegal.  The closest legal challenge at the moment seems to be the anti money laundering laws which require you to "know your customer" by retaining personal identifying information on people you exchange monetary instruments with (in amounts greater than $1000, per day).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-10-12T03:59:16.607Z
@Chad: Citations needed.
Nate Eldredge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-10-13T04:06:20.343Z
@nateEldredge Feel free to downvote and delete... but commenting like this on a post over 2 years old seems a bit douchebaggy
Chad
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-10-03T18:21:45.527Z
There are potential pitfalls in that it is illegal to create any form of money for the exchange of goods and services unless you are the US Congress per the Constitution.  There is also potential problems with tax evasion, sedition, conspiracy, treason, fraud, and incitement statutes that it could be argued that bit coin violates.  While there may be no statute that says do not create a bit coin there are statutes that say do not do some of the things that bitcoin can do.
Chad
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-08-30T23:32:30.787Z
2011-09-01T14:01:14.580Z
2011-09-01T14:01:14.580Z
Joshua Kolden
<p>You can see the ongoing regulatory discussions and current status in various U.S. states by looking at the Coin Center's state-by-state listing.</p>

<p><a href="https://coincenter.org/2015/06/state-digital-currency-regulation-tracker/" rel="nofollow">https://coincenter.org/2015/06/state-digital-currency-regulation-tracker/</a></p>

<p>Since BTC-trading companies will probably have to file for money transmitter licenses in most/all of fifty states, the laws will likely differ in each state.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-09-08T23:17:28.560Z
2015-09-08T23:17:28.560Z
ADO
<p>I found this Wikipedia article very helpful for this exact question:<br>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_bitcoin_by_country_or_territory" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Legality of bitcoin by country or territory</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The legal status of bitcoin varies substantially from country to country and is still undefined or changing in many of them. Whilst the majority of countries do not make the usage of bitcoin itself illegal, its status as money (or a commodity) varies, with differing regulatory implications.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-24T08:47:30.993Z
2018-01-24T08:47:30.993Z
Willtech
<p><a href="http://www.merkletree.io/" rel="nofollow">http://www.merkletree.io/</a> is a good reference. Has a clickable color coded map with links and legal informations. Pros and Cons. So far I like it.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-11T03:46:23.057Z
2015-12-08T23:11:35.767Z
2015-12-08T23:11:35.767Z
StiGMaT
<p>At this point, the legality of bitcoin remains largely untested. To date, there have been no legal actions brought against any bitcoin exchanges (which would likely be the first place for the legality of bitcoin to be tested, rather than end users) and multiple bitcoin exchanges are seeking legal clarification regarding the jurisdictions they are operating in.</p>

<p>Some non-profits including the EFF have <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/06/eff-and-bitcoin">chosen not to accept bitcoin at this point in time</a> because of untested legal issues.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-08-30T23:26:07.537Z
2011-08-31T17:44:32.730Z
2011-08-31T17:44:32.730Z
lemonginger
<p>Has there been any concrete information about the legality of Bitcoin in any country?</p>

<p>Since any information can be <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/150/are-there-really-messages-in-the-blockchain">injected into the blockchain</a>, then if child porn / copyrighted material is injected into the blockchain, does this make Bitcoin clients illegal in some sense?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-10T21:23:45.050Z
russian government explicitly outlawed bitcoin recently
Tyler Gillies
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-02T11:15:52.723Z
http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-interesting-examples-of-illegal-and-or-controversial-data-embedded-in-the-Bitcoin-blockchain || https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2ltbgx/putting_copyrighted_material_into_the_block_chain/ || http://www.righto.com/2014/02/ascii-bernanke-wikileaks-photographs.html
Ciro Santilli OurBigBook.com
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-09-04T22:00:50.690Z
I suspect this question will need to be updated many times in the coming years. "Current" might not be good enough on such a question, and perhaps it should be closed.
ripper234
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-09-04T22:02:07.957Z
A French court will decide about this soon. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=41317.0 However I doubt we're close to seeing a stable legal state any time soon.
ripper234
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-08-31T17:59:54.860Z
Isn't it better to have separate questions like this for each country? If/when this question will have some clearer answers, it will be a mess to find the specific answer for _my_ country, which is probably what most people are interested in. I vote to close for this reason. (Don't misunderstand me though - the questions about legality are very important)
D.H.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-09-01T06:06:13.677Z
@D.H. My opinion is that I'd like to see the information centered in one question, not scattered into lots of smaller ones.
ripper234
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-09-01T17:50:06.583Z
Alright. I started a discussion about this on meta to try and sort it out. http://meta.bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/47/questions-with-different-answers-depending-on-country-region
D.H.
<legal>
What is the current legal status of Bitcoin around the world?
ripper234
# What is the current legal status of Bitcoin around the world?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2011-08-30)

Has there been any concrete information about the legality of Bitcoin in any country?

Since any information can be [injected into the blockchain](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/150/are-there-really-messages-in-the-blockchain), then if child porn / copyrighted material is injected into the blockchain, does this make Bitcoin clients illegal in some sense?

**Tags:** legal

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Isn't it better to have separate questions like this for each country? If/when this question will have some clearer answers, it will be a mess to find the specific answer for _my_ country, which is probably what most people are interested in. I vote to close for this reason. (Don't misunderstand me though - the questions about legality are very important)  
> **username_0**: @D.H. My opinion is that I'd like to see the information centered in one question, not scattered into lots of smaller ones.  
> **username_3**: Alright. I started a discussion about this on meta to try and sort it out. http://meta.bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/47/questions-with-different-answers-depending-on-country-region  
> **username_0**: I suspect this question will need to be updated many times in the coming years. "Current" might not be good enough on such a question, and perhaps it should be closed.  
> **username_0**: A French court will decide about this soon. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=41317.0 However I doubt we're close to seeing a stable legal state any time soon.  
> **username_1**: russian government explicitly outlawed bitcoin recently  
> **username_2**: http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-interesting-examples-of-illegal-and-or-controversial-data-embedded-in-the-Bitcoin-blockchain || https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2ltbgx/putting_copyrighted_material_into_the_block_chain/ || http://www.righto.com/2014/02/ascii-bernanke-wikileaks-photographs.html  

---

## 5 answers

### Answer by username_10 on 2011-08-30. Score: 13 | Accepted answer

At this point, the legality of bitcoin remains largely untested. To date, there have been no legal actions brought against any bitcoin exchanges (which would likely be the first place for the legality of bitcoin to be tested, rather than end users) and multiple bitcoin exchanges are seeking legal clarification regarding the jurisdictions they are operating in.

Some non-profits including the EFF have [chosen not to accept bitcoin at this point in time](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/06/eff-and-bitcoin) because of untested legal issues.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2011-08-30. Score: 9

In the United States there is no existing legislation that explicitly makes bitcoins or bitcoin-like currencies illegal. The closest legal challenge at the moment seems to be the anti money laundering laws which require you to "know your customer" by retaining personal identifying information on people you exchange monetary instruments with (in amounts greater than $1000, per day).

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: There are potential pitfalls in that it is illegal to create any form of money for the exchange of goods and services unless you are the US Congress per the Constitution.  There is also potential problems with tax evasion, sedition, conspiracy, treason, fraud, and incitement statutes that it could be argued that bit coin violates.  While there may be no statute that says do not create a bit coin there are statutes that say do not do some of the things that bitcoin can do.  
> **username_5**: @username_6: Citations needed.  
> **username_6**: @nateEldredge Feel free to downvote and delete... but commenting like this on a post over 2 years old seems a bit douchebaggy  

---

### Answer by username_7 on 2015-09-08. Score: 1

You can see the ongoing regulatory discussions and current status in various U.S. states by looking at the Coin Center's state-by-state listing.

<https://coincenter.org/2015/06/state-digital-currency-regulation-tracker/>

Since BTC-trading companies will probably have to file for money transmitter licenses in most/all of fifty states, the laws will likely differ in each state.


---

### Answer by username_8 on 2018-01-24. Score: 0

I found this Wikipedia article very helpful for this exact question:  
[Legality of bitcoin by country or territory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_bitcoin_by_country_or_territory)

> The legal status of bitcoin varies substantially from country to country and is still undefined or changing in many of them. Whilst the majority of countries do not make the usage of bitcoin itself illegal, its status as money (or a commodity) varies, with differing regulatory implications.


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### Answer by username_9 on 2014-02-11. Score: 0

<http://www.merkletree.io/> is a good reference. Has a clickable color coded map with links and legal informations. Pros and Cons. So far I like it.


---

