Bitcoin and Online Casino Software

Berlin Court of Appeals’ Spectacular Judgment

The Berlin Court of Appeals in Germany decided that bitcoin may be traded freely. As a result, a German entrepreneur from Berlin can breathe a sigh of relief after being accused of conducting a bitcoin banking business without a license. The court ruled for the entrepreneur.

Background

The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht, BaFin) is of the opinion that trading bitcoin requires a license: “In BaFin’s administrative practice, the cryptocurrency bitcoin is a financial instrument under the German Banking Act (Kreditwesengesetz, KWG), the trading of which requires a banking license.”

However, the highest criminal court of Berlin decided in ruling September 25, 2018 (Az. 161 Ss 28/18) what clever entrepreneurs have known for a long time: Bitcoin is not regulated by any bank or state as a virtual port of freedom for worldwide trade. The German daily Die Welt commented on the ruling:

“It argues that the cryptocurrency is not issued by any central bank, public authority, or legally binding issuer and has no stable value. The court sees the BaFin exceeding its competence if it categorizes bitcoin as a currency-like accounting unit and financial instrument in the sense of supervisory law and creates non-transparent risks of criminal liability for the citizen.”

Conclusion: An overzealous German tax authority was put in its place. Bitcoin remains decentralized and unregulated. Even trading with bitcoin, for which the German tax authorities have demanded a banking license, does not and will not require authorization.

Source: Schiemzik, Boris: Court ruling permits Bitcoin trading platform, retrieved on November 9, 2018 at: https://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/bilanz/article183483070/Kryptowaehrung-Gerichtsurteil-erlaubt-Bitcoin-Handelsplattform.html