Be Vigilant on Compliance, Coinbase Warns Bitcoin Startups

One of the largest players in bitcoin has warned fledging startups to remain vigilant on regulatory compliance issues.
Coinbase‘s associate counsel Sarah Hody urged entrepreneurs to follow the firm’s “proactive” stance in front of a packed audience at bitcoin developer meetup in San Francisco’s South of Market district.
Hody, who worked at several different law firms prior to joining the cryptocurrency space, noted that a number of other sectors, including food services and the automotive industry, have regulatory bodies that ensure consumer protection.
It is becoming more apparent that bitcoin will someday be in the same category as other industries that must heed compliance in the US, said Hody, adding: “Federal agencies have expressed interest.”
Because bitcoin is a protocol, a payment network and a digital currency – often simultaneously -it may attract the interest of various different regulators, she said.

This post was published at Coin Desk on May 2, 2015.