I thought you could spread a new currency in the US, but no one has to accept anything other than the official US currency. Which was the reason why things like tokens and bitcoins can exist.
You cannot make your currency resemble official US currency in any way that would confuse a normal citizen. This has been interpreted rather broadly. The Secret Service has shut down a number of private currencies due to this rule, including silver/gold backed paper money and coins, Liberty Dollar, eGold, etc. I think they shut down the guy that was putting a bitcoin sticker on gold coins as well.
The reason they have not shut down Bitcoin is that they do not consider it a currency. It isn't money, it is a commodity at best.
Except it is the law. Liberty dollars were intentionally similar in design with US currency— any random joe would confuse them. Literature from their maker encouraged (with indirect language) people to pass them off as US dollars and they were priced to make it profitable to do so (E.g. $8 in melt value silver, sold to you for $15 with a "$20" stamped on the front). (See: http://truthalliance.net/Portals/0/Archive/images/news/2012/... plus there are a whole _additional_ set of laws covering the minting of coins of precious metal in the US which aren't relevant for Bitcoin discussions).
The counterfeiting charges in the Liberty dollar case basically went uncontested.
> Whoever, except as authorized by law, makes or utters or passes, or attempts to utter or pass, any coins of gold or silver or other metal, or alloys of metals, intended for use as current money, whether in the resemblance of coins of the United States or of foreign countries, or of original design, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
The creator of the currency was convincted for violating this section of code, among others. This is completely separate from imitating US dollars or counterfeiting. I can find no indication that imitation of official US currency was the primary or only justification for his conviction. Every source I can find indicates that simply competing with official US currency is a crime.
> any coins of gold or silver or other metal, or alloys of metals,
And you think this is applicable to Bitcoin because?
In any case, I was going to chide you to read the ruling, but it seems to have vanished offline. It was previously online. Fascinating stuff.
Here were the actual charges (from the BVNH wikipedia article):
Von NotHaus was charged under counterfeiting laws with one count of conspiracy to possess and sell coins in resemblance and similitude of coins of a denomination higher than five cents, and silver coins in resemblance of genuine coins of the United States in denominations of five dollars and greater, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 485, 18 U.S.C. § 486, and 18 U.S.C. § 371; one count of mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341 and 18 U.S.C. § 2; one count of selling, and possessing with intent to defraud, coins of resemblance and similitude of United States coins in denominations of five cents and higher, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 485 and 18 U.S.C. § 2; and one count of uttering, passing, and attempting to utter and pass, silver coins in resemblance of genuine U.S. coins in denominations of five dollars or greater, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 486 and 18 U.S.C. § 2.
You need to be somewhat careful with non-court sources on this, people on NotHaus' side have been making a strenuous effort to cast this as persecution of alternative currencies, and they've had some help from some inept law enforcement people who— as usual— don't understand the law. If you go and actually read the indictment and conviction you'll see that it wasn't really at all.
I never said anything about Bitcoin. I responded to the comment which said "I thought you could spread a new currency in the US, but no one has to accept anything other than the official US currency."
And yes, I read about his convictions. 18 U.S.C. § 486 is the section I pasted in my previous comment.
