Breaking News: US court rules on dark web trading platform: Bitcoin is considered money, you are operating an illegal money transmission business

In the early morning of the 25th Taiwan time, a U.S. federal court ruling stated that the virtual currency known as Bitcoin is considered a "currency" under the District of Columbia's Money Transmitters Act.

On the morning of the 25th, Taiwan time, a US federal court ruled that the virtual currency known as Bitcoin is considered a "money" under the District of Columbia's Money Transmitters Act.

The defendant in this case is Larry Dean Harmon, operator of an underground Bitcoin trading platform, charged with operating an unlicensed money transmission business and violating anti-money laundering laws.

Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell wrote, "Money is a medium of exchange, a method of payment, or a store of value, and Bitcoin fits these descriptions." The District of Columbia's law applies to these concepts, even though it does not explicitly define money.

This illicit trading platform operated on the dark web, used to facilitate transactions involving drugs, firearms, and other illegal activities. Court documents revealed that it had a total transaction volume of $311 million between 2014 and 2017.

According to a report by Bloomberg, this ruling could potentially categorize all cryptocurrency exchanges as unlicensed money transmission businesses.