Misleading title. They will most likely be tough as nails on it with regulations.
US regulators have said ( after the first meeting, months ago ) that they would like to give bitcoin as much space as they can in order to not drive away all the bitcoin biz and startups away from the US. US wants to be innovators and leaders like everyone else, sure they like to keep a tight grip on money lundering and such but ya, they dont HATE bitcoin.
Yeah and then did the EXACT OPPOSITE. FinCEN declaring the exchange of Virtual Currency for Real Currency to be Money Transmission is the absolute worst possible poison pill. Did you know exchanging Euros for dollars is NOT money transmission? FinCEN threw about a decade of prior precedent away and categorized Virtual Currencies in a manner which was vague and capricious and caused untold damage and loss of US based business. They didn't have to, they CHOSE TO DO SO.
Your first mistake was believing a regulator. Your second mistake was not punching yourself in the face for making the first mistake.
bitcoin exchanges need watch out for money laundering.
this is acceptable...
Strawman. FinCEN could have ruled differently and still subject exchanges to MSB requirements.
Once again.
If you run a business which accepts USD and payouts EUR YOU ARE NOT A MONEY TRANSMITTER.
If you run a business which accepts USD and payouts BTC YOU ARE A MONEY TRANSMITTER.
FinCEN "guidance" on virtual currencies directly contradicts prior guidance on "real currency" exchange. You are a fool if you think that was done on any rational basis or to give Bitcoin space. It was a poison pill. Money Transmission is the single most regulated activity in the united states except maybe banking. Some have even suggested that forming a credit union would be CHEAPER and EASIER than getting a Money Transmitter license in all the states in the US. It is a death blow to small startups and will smother innovation and hand the market over to a handful of massive corporations.
Little side note guess how many companies have a MT license in all states (well the 48 which require them)? Got your guess. Did you think maybe a couple hundred? maybe a hundred? how about fifty? Nope. 12. That's right, a country of 300 million people and money transmission is so heavily regulated with such massive and asinine requirements that twelve whole companies have a license in all states. None of these companies have a market cap of less than a couple hundred million USD (banks and credit card companies are exempt). That is the camp that FinCEN with the stroke of a pen through Bitcoin startups into.
Gold Dealer = subject to AML but NOT A MONEY TRANSMITTER
Check Casher = subject to AML but NOT A MONEY TRANSMITTER
Foreign Currency Dealer = subject to AML but NOT A MONEY TRANSMITTER
Bitcoin exchange/dealer = MONEY TRANSMITTER.
Bitcoin miner who exchanges BTC for real currency = MONEY TRANSMITTER