4 Court Cases Helping Shape the US Stance on Bitcoin

While the bitcoin economy is currently backed by $284m in venture capital and has a growing band of high-profile supporters, it still operates in a regulatory grey area in its largest market.
Unsurprisingly, just how the US will and should choose to regulate the digital currency is the subject of a continuing debate throughout all sectors of the ecosystem.
But, while the media focuses largely on policymakers like those currently making waves in New York, the country’s courts may yet prove to have a deciding influence on the legal future of bitcoin.
Last week Trendon Shavers made headlines when he was fined $40m for defrauding investors in a bitcoin Ponzi scheme. The case, brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in July 2013, created a broad first precedent for bitcoin when the judge ruled that bitcoin is a currency and a form of money.
Other cases could also have far reaching ramifications for the world of cryptocurrency. Below are the top court cases and rulings to date that are helping shape the US view on bitcoin.

This post was published at Coin Desk on September 28, 2014.