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Ask HN: Bitcoin business unexpectedly taking off, help!
21–30 of 151 posts
Re: Ask HN: Bitcoin business unexpectedly taking off, help!
#22I would strongly consider not running a money transmitter as a side business. If you do not understand that you are running a money transmitter, I will be happy to elaborate. I would also mention, on the assumption you're not aware of it, that you are offering fairly effective money laundering for credit card thieves at below-market rates for that service, and you can expect heavy dedicated adversarial interest. I ra…
How is he a money transmitter? His business is buying a product (Starbucks gift cards) and paying for them with Bitcoin. By your definition, a used car dealership that buys cars from the public and pays for them with cash is also a money transmitter.
Re: Ask HN: Bitcoin business unexpectedly taking off, help!
#23You can find a lawyer to work for equity on EquityLancer
Re: Ask HN: Bitcoin business unexpectedly taking off, help!
#24I would strongly consider not running a money transmitter as a side business. If you do not understand that you are running a money transmitter, I will be happy to elaborate. I would also mention, on the assumption you're not aware of it, that you are offering fairly effective money laundering for credit card thieves at below-market rates for that service, and you can expect heavy dedicated adversarial interest. I ra…
Agreed, I wouldn't be surprised if his runaway success is due to people leveraging the money laundering possibilities en masse. Thats a hell of a risky business to be in
Re: Ask HN: Bitcoin business unexpectedly taking off, help!
#25Advice: Shut it down before you get raided and shut down and your "side business" becomes "going to court and defending yourself."
What you clearly didn't realize is that long before BitCoin was popular, gift cards were one of the ways criminals laundered money. There are even discussions about which gift cards can be sold for the least discount. Gift cards can be sold for cash, so you are in effect, operating a bitcoin exchange.
Re: Ask HN: Bitcoin business unexpectedly taking off, help!
#26This is a cool concept, A lot of people let you trade bitcoin for cards, but the opposite is really useful too! I'd love this business in dollars.
Re: Ask HN: Bitcoin business unexpectedly taking off, help!
#27I would strongly consider not running a money transmitter as a side business. If you do not understand that you are running a money transmitter, I will be happy to elaborate. I would also mention, on the assumption you're not aware of it, that you are offering fairly effective money laundering for credit card thieves at below-market rates for that service, and you can expect heavy dedicated adversarial interest. I ra…
How is he a money transmitter? His business is buying a product (Starbucks gift cards) and paying for them with Bitcoin. By your definition, a used car dealership that buys cars from the public and pays for them with cash is also a money transmitter.
Gift cards are more like cash than goods. That is why "Federal tax law does not view giving an employee a turkey or a ham as the equivalent of giving an employee a gift card to purchase a turkey or a ham" [1].
[1] http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/p_4090_fed_0305_text.pdf
Re: Ask HN: Bitcoin business unexpectedly taking off, help!
#28I would strongly consider not running a money transmitter as a side business. If you do not understand that you are running a money transmitter, I will be happy to elaborate. I would also mention, on the assumption you're not aware of it, that you are offering fairly effective money laundering for credit card thieves at below-market rates for that service, and you can expect heavy dedicated adversarial interest. I ra…
Agreed, I wouldn't be surprised if his runaway success is due to people leveraging the money laundering possibilities en masse. Thats a hell of a risky business to be in
[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Bitcoin business unexpectedly taking off, help!
#29I would strongly consider not running a money transmitter as a side business. If you do not understand that you are running a money transmitter, I will be happy to elaborate. I would also mention, on the assumption you're not aware of it, that you are offering fairly effective money laundering for credit card thieves at below-market rates for that service, and you can expect heavy dedicated adversarial interest. I ra…
I've been hand-verifying the transactions so far to try to keep abreast of fraud. I've also taken some automated steps (that I'm improving now).
I've been reading quite a bit about the money transmitter stuff, but I'd appreciate your take on why this would be categorized.
Re: Ask HN: Bitcoin business unexpectedly taking off, help!
#30I just pinged you on Twitter, @jdshutt. I know a lawyer who specializes in tax law and is very interested in cryptocurrencies. If you want to get in touch with her, you can reach me at john.d.shutt@gmail.com and I'll send her e-mail.
I'm on board with everyone saying that you need to talk to a lawyer sooner rather than later, and should work with someone who knows the area.