In February 2015, I wrote an article Coins.ph offers remittances to Philippines using Coinbase.The end result of the article was receiving approximately 54+ comments out of which 50 or so were downright abusive.I almost debated if publishing this article was going to be worth it.After much thought I have decided to go ahead with it without citing any names.Draw your own conclusions.Over the past couple of months, a lot many Bitcoin Remittance (Rebittance) companies have sprouted up (a curated list of all bitcoin remittance companies can be found here).Licensed MTOs (Money Transfer Operators) are crying foul.Because the legality and licensure of these Rebittance companies comes into question.Buying & Selling of Bitcoins is okay (unless you’re Bangladesh which has outright banned the trade of Bitcoins).Now most MTOs don’t have a problem with that (and presumably, neither do the regulators), but when Bitcoin startups enter the domain of remittance, the waters get murky!Personally, I believe in a free system, yet this is not meant to be a contradictory statement, the law is the law.

If money-transfer services requires a license, then where exactly do Bitcoin Remittance companies stand?or are they operating illegally?I posed the question to the regulators of five countries, and their answers are as follows: What the regulators are clearing citing that if a bitcoin company engages in the activities that are similar to that of a money transfer service, the operation requires a money transfer license.This is pretty much the standard answer of almost every regulator you ask of in the developing world.Wallet providers cite that it is the user that is circumventing the system by using it for remittances, whilst others, clearly position themselves as entities that are engaged in Bitcoin transfers.If a licensed MTO in the United States does a pure Bitcoin-to-Bitcoin remittance to say Kenya, is this legal?The law can be murky here.According to my interaction with the Kenyan Central Bank, the answer was that the Kenyan Central Bank has decided not to interfere as yet into regulating bitcoins.

However, they were concerned with the unlicensed companies who were engaged in the value-transfer into Kenya.Startups in Kenya argue that Bitcoin is not regulated hence, they are exempt from obtaining a money transmitter license (equivalent) in Kenya.The regulators see it differently, and I quote: “if the value transfer is in Bitcoins or Fiat, it does not matter.If the company is engaged what we deem to be money transfer (i.e.remittances) the Kenya Money Exchange licensing would apply to them” Likewise, in the United States if a company from say Philippines is providing a system that upon review mimics a money transfer operation, and they allow US clients to be on-boarded, then this company (in the Philippines) is deemed to be a money services businesses in the eyes of FinCEN.Hence it needs to have Money Transmitter Licenses to be able to on-board US customers.In addition to this, registration with FinCEN is mandatory.Merely saying that your system is being abused or misused for remittances is not good enough.

The federal regulator has the view point that if your website is shown to say 20 people and after review by them, these 20 people are asked what does the website do and if they reply “money transfer” then you’re in trouble.These grey issues are of grave concerns to the regulators in the US, in the terminating countries and the investors.Do the same regulations hold true if Bitcoin is used for value-transfer between two licensed entities?bitcoin segwitThe answer is, it depends.ethereum 64 bitI got the opportunity to view two investor presentations by two leading bitcoin remittance companies that were presented as recently as November and December 2014.bitcoin litecoin peercoin dogecoinI can sum it up very eloquently: Marketing Bullshit!cnbc bitcoin value

There is so much misrepresentation of the facts and opinions that it almost made me laugh.Ignorance of the law amongst the investors is one prime reasons companies get funded.Words are twisted with double meanings (if not more).It almost reminds me of this image below: One common argument you hear is how they are compliant with all the rules and regulation (just failing to mention, they may be compliant, but still unlicensed).bitcoin vga listHowever, it does raise one very important question.setting up bitcoin qtIf an startup is compliant with all the rules and regulation and does not have a license, does it matter?bitcoin to pscFrom a transaction point of view, the answer is No!bitcoin edward snowden

It does not matter.All the data points collected, the checks and balances done are the same and yield the same transaction parameters.The data does not change if the entity is licensed or not.So, does it really matter?Needless to say, the answer lies with the regulator.What is of interest is if such grey transaction could spell trouble down the line or not, both for the startup, its investors and the transaction partners who may be licensed in one geography.bitcoin mining alaskaThe jury is still out.Bitcoin can do a world of good all over the globe, and the technology powering the network offers a ton of potential.But not everyone is looking for a solution in the financial sector or any other industry where blockchain technology might play a significant role.Furthermore, there is the topic of religion, which begs the question whether or not Bitcoin can be in conflict with one’s beliefs.For example, is the involvement in Bitcoin halal under the laws of Islam, and is there an intrinsic value to the popular digital currency?

Also read: Bitcoin Micropayments Make A Lot of Sense For The Brave Browser Currency is a strange concept, as it is very hard to define what makes a particular medium of transferring value legal or not.Before money in its current form was created, people used barter to complete transactions, with the value of goods changing on a regular basis.But there is also the religious concept to take into account, as every belief has their own “standards” regarding money and currency.Especially when it comes to exchanging one type of currency for another, things are not as clear under the laws of Islam.In the Western world, people take this type of business for granted and rarely give it a second, though.But certain religions are quite strict on currency exchange, begging the question what the stance of the Islam is.Based on the answer provided by Islam Today, it looks like the exchange of currency is a permissible form of business.However, both parties have to receive the money for this transaction by hand, and delays are not permitted.

While these rules were created for precious metals, the same principles apply to other forms of currency.When reading that question out loud for the first time, some people might shake their heads and laugh out loud.But this topic is no matter of jokes and humour, as it is a very serious question posted on Stackexchange not that long ago.The concept of digital currency might contradict certain religions or beliefs.One follower of the Islamic faith posted the question on Stackexchange, as there was some confusion whether or not involvement in Bitcoin could be halal.Keeping in mind how digital currency is vastly different from money owned and controlled by banks and governments, the question only seems logical, and there was no definitive answer at that time.The best answer given on Stackexchange mentioned how Bitcoin can be seen as a medium similar to precious metals.One of the main issues people have with the concept of digital currency is how there is no physical representation of Bitcoin, albeit it can be proven to exist when needed.

Not in a tangible form, but one can complete a transaction in Bitcoin and prove it has a value to other people.However, when it comes to Bitcoin’s intrinsic value – or potential lack thereof – things are quite different.The laws of Islam require halal currency to have intrinsic value, and digital currency seems to fit that bill perfectly.Unlike fiat currency, which is represented by a paper medium susceptible to damage, loss, and theft, Bitcoin has intrinsic value as its worth can not be tampered with through duplication and other illegal means.Expressing that intrinsic value is vastly different from how most people would look to describe Bitcoin.As most people are well aware, the modern digital currency is generated through a process called “mining”, which requires computation power in the form of proof-of-work.This is exactly what gives Bitcoin its intrinsic value under the laws of Islam, as the value is proportional to the difficulty required for mining.Additionally, halal currency should be deflationary in nature, which leads to fluctuation in value.