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I asked 51 Bitcoin experts, ranging from founders of startups in the digital currency space to investors, authors and movie directors on their thoughts on what the future holds for Bitcoin.This is a 4 part report, looking into the following: This is part one, where we look into how regulation around Bitcoin will evolve over the next 12 months.Here’s what the experts had to say: Jeremy Bonney, Product Manager at Coindesk responds: It’s interesting that regulatory discussions around bitcoin have really ramped up over the past year – I think we’re going to see a continuation and increase of that this year.ep2c5t144 bitcoinWe’ve already seen countries like Germany classify bitcoin as private money and Finland classify it as a commodity.bitcoin esquema ponziChina came out and issued some very tough restrictions on it.bitcoin easy calculator

However, China has a history of wanting to control anything it sees as disruptive to the status quo (much like the Internet in the 1990s) – so the very fact that it has taken notice of bitcoin, and is trying to exert some control over it, is a positive sign for its disruptive potential.Alena Vranova, CEO of SatoshiLabs (TREZOR) responds: I’d rather expect further discrepancy than some international unification over the coming 12 months.bitcoin welche zahlungsmöglichkeiten gibt esThe governments will continue in trying to get to know Bitcoin and to find a balance between the risks and business opportunities.bitcoin giangleThis will lead to arbitrage in creation and resettlement of bitcoin businesses to territories with more bitcoin friendly environment.bitcoin first

The government who will acknowledge the opportunity (like Cyprus or Singapore) will definitely find themselves in the winning positions, some might refine the rules (like Germany) and others will probably continue to discuss (France).John Backus, Co-Founder of BlockScore responds: I hope that the U.S.Government will take the time to understand cryptocurrencies like they did after the Silk Road 2.0 launch.The reality is that the protocol itself is not subject to regulation.There is already regulation affecting bitcoin exchanges (money transmitter licenses, KYC requirements).I hope that the MTL process is eventually simplified so that one license permits operation in 50 states, effectively lowering an unnecessarily high barrier to entry.Zach Harvey, CEO of Lamassu responds: I think some jurisdictions will get better and some worse.I also expect widespread acceptance in the US to have an effect on future regulatory requirements, but am not too optimistic of Bitcoin service compliance becoming a viable option for small businesses.

Ken Lo, CEO of ANX responds: There will become more regulations and many governments will start revealing their stance on how they want bitcoins to be regulated.This will be a bit painful in the beginning, but in the long run it will give a framework for bitcoin companies to work around.Governments will choose regulation over something they know they cannot ban, else it will go underground.It’s pretty clear the government does not want that to happen because they would have just banned it very early on.Adrian, Founder of SatoshiBet responds: As bitcoin, and the bitcoin community grows, countries and jurisdictions will continue to regulate bitcoin.This is a sign of bitcoin maturing, and this is not a bad thing.If cryptocurrencies want to be accepted by society they need some clarity and context within the current currency laws.Jaron Lukasiewicz, CEO of Coinsetter responds: The regulation surrounding our industry will become much more clear over the next 12 months, making it possible for U.S.

bitcoin companies to operate and grow.Kingsley Edwards, Founder of LeetCoin responds: Regulation will increase as politicians attempt to tame Bitcoin under the guise of protecting the population.Francisco Tomas Buero, Co-Founder of Conectabitcoin responds: Organically; unless the aggregate demand skyrockets, pushing the price above the value of one ounce of gold.Nubis Bruno, Co-Founder of Conectabitcoin responds: I think most jurisdictions will start accepting bitcoin is a digital good following the singaporean example.Most people will still be double or even triple taxed when dealing with bitcoin as we think it’s going to be paying a value added tax.Rodolfo Novak, Founder of Coinkite responds: Over the next 12 months, we do not expect regulation to change significantly, but we do expect to see “tax advice” to come out for more countries, much like the very reasonable notice from Canada’s CRA (our federal-level tax folks).Kenneth Metral, CEO of Coingig responds: Stopping Bitcoin transactions is not possible due to the nature of the Bitcoin protocol.

However, US regulation on Bitcoin is still speculative but it seems that their initial stance on it seems to be one that is open for discussion.Even more importantly, Bitcoin businesses are actively coming forth and working with the government in every way they can, because they want to see Bitcoin adoption and acceptance grow.At Coingig, we are registered with FINCEN and provide them with a full report on any suspicious activity that we observe.Jonathan Speigner, CEO of LiteTree responds: It’s hard to predict what specific regulations will become the rules of engagement for companies wanting to use bitcoins.Once we have a clear definition of how each government is going to classify crypto currencies it will then define how it will be regulated.We have seen different parts of the world classify it in all different ways so as of now in the US it’s a little unclear and even more unclear in other parts of the world.The simple answer would be that its adopted as a global currency and treated like any other currency.

Mike Yeung, Founder of SFU Bitcoin Club responds: I believe we will see tighter KYC/AML protocols around all exchanges (physical and online), including ATMs, so that the entries in and out of bitcoins are kept clean.In some places, merchants/businesses dealing with bitcoins may have to apply for licenses.Tax reporting practices for bitcoins and other cryptos will be more clear.There may be the off-chance that some countries will “ban” bitcoins through what they call coin-validation: some coins will be deemed tainted while others can be used for legitimate purposes… obviously many bitcoiners including myself will find this to be unfavourable: it gives too much power to a governing body.Vitalik Buterin, Author at Bitcoin Magazine responds: I think we will see over half of the world’s governments take a formal position on Bitcoin by the end of this year.I expect positive movements on the regulatory front; BTC is already increasingly establishing itself as a legitimate thing, and the conversation is already turning from “should we ban Bitcoin” to “banks are unfriendly to Bitcoin businesses, what can we as regulators do to provide more regulatory certainty?”.

We will likely see substantial reforms in some US states, allowing a specific licensing category for Bitcoin businesses, and we will continue to see more tax clarification.Eric Calouro, Founder of NewsBTC responds: Governments around the world are recognizing that bitcoin is undoubtedly catching on, and will be forced to start thinking harder about regulation.As such, I would expect bitcoin to be regulated at some level or another in the next 12-24 months.It’s hard to say, exactly, but with the State of New York planning meetings on this topic soon, you can imagine other states will follow suit.Matt Allen, CEO of BitcoinStarter responds: I don’t believe regulation will be as harsh as everyone makes it out to be.I believe regulation will come in the form of a few stated rules handed down by the FinCEN (if in the U.S) detailing what is expected.Frank Schuil, CEO of Safello responds: As with other disruptive technologies legislators are trying to keep up with the pace of the market.

In Europe we see an overall positive trend as is the case in the US.China has put a halt to the bitcoin craze, but I suspect it is temporary until the market has matured.My prediction is that within 12 months there may be an European directive in place or in the making on crypto currencies that will replace or compliment the Virtual Currency directive that exists today.The US will most likely take more time to get federal legislation in place, which forces Bitcoin startups to continue to follow state law for the time to come.Elizabeth Ploshay, Manager at Bitcoin Magazine responds: It is unclear precisely how the US government and governments around the world will specifically act.I see that one area of regulation will come in the realm of taxation.The IRS is to publish guidelines on how to consider digital currencies and what type of tax will be placed on these currencies.As Bitcoin continues to become more mainstream and as larger and more prominent companies also start utilizing the currency, I believe we will see a larger group of companies requesting further regulatory clarity.

Additionally, there will be perhaps greater clarity in terms of regulations for banks offering accounts to Bitcoin related businesses.Tony Tam, Co-Founder of Bitcoin Pulse responds: I believe it will progress as it has been going – more countries becoming aware and deciding to take action.I’m not sure things will swing just one way.It’s more likely to be a case by case kind of thing (i.e.depends on the country and the powers at helm).But the way I see it, Governments should regulate Bitcoin for their own sake since going against something like Bitcoin is only going to cost them in the long run – not just in terms of popularity from the technology crowd, but also fighting Bitcoin if it goes underground.I believe it’s very clear that some parts of the community won’t drop Bitcoin even if Governments decide to outlaw Bitcoin/Fiat transactions.Flavio Rump, Co-Founder of Bitcoin Pulse responds: I think an important part will be how ‘traceable’ government bodies perceive bitcoin.

With mixing services, unregulated exchanges like BTC-e it is not that hard today to actually make your transactions untracable, which may scare governments more than it will help.At the very least, all exchanges will have to have KYC and AML best practices implemented, and the appropriate Money Transfer Licenses, in some cases bank licenses.It is also interesting to observe that smaller countries tend to be more open to bitcoin than large ones (US, China).Maybe they are trying to stay/become more relevant when it comes to innovation/attracting capital and entrepreneurs and thus are much more open.I expect this general trend to continue.Morgan Rockwell, Founder of Bitcoin Kinetics responds: Regulation will nonexistent, irrelevant & burdening.It will be done by many nations, banks & corporations unfriendly to crypto currencies.Nonexistent in the way that the US and other nations have said no to regulations are needed for crypto currency & it’s networks.Irrelevant in the way that it is impossible to stop crypto currency use, adoption or its valuation.

Burdening in the way that when a regulation is passed & actually enforced by people with guns, this will only slow down and force Bitcoin business out of that nation or state.Daniel, Founder of Dagensia responds: Some of the countries will regulate bitcoin as a commodity and some of them as a virtual money.I believe bitcoin is more a currency than a commodity because bitcoin stores value, is easily divisible and can be transfered online.Simon Edhouse, Managing Director of Bittunes responds: My guess is that regulation will become more conspicuous, but most serious Bitcoin developers and those involved in financing Bitcoin related projects would welcome that.But I think in fact the focus of concern will shift from Bitcoin to the multitude of Alt-Currencies that are springing up.Understanding these and their nature and implications will keep authorities very busy in 2014.Peter Seed, CEO of Tradefor responds: I believe that regulation around Bitcoin will not escalate significantly in the U.S.

and will remain at the present level.government has administrative power to enforce laws around money laundering.But present laws seem to be sufficient.The thing about BitCoin is that it does not respond directly to regulation.At best they can regulate the exchanges which would temporarily impact the ‘price’ of BitCoin.If they come down on exchanges too hard and the players involved throw their hands up and say enough of this.There isn’t much stopping vendors and people from using and exchanging BitCoin directly, without any currency exchange taking place.This type of activity, as near as I can tell, is impossible to regulate.Ash Moran, Co-Founder of Bitcoin Manchester responds: The current trend seems to be that people in national governments (e.g.Germany, Switzerland, Singapore) are cautiously receptive to Bitcoin, but banks are generally hostile (especially in the UK and China).It’s impossible to predict how the regulation will go, and I don’t understand the global systems well enough to comment with any authority – but I can see it coming in two rounds.

The first round is how to regulate it while it’s still small in currency scales, the second is if and when it competes with major national currencies.What happens, for example, if a country with a struggling or failing economy finds its people dumping their local currency and saving and trading in bitcoins instead?In 1933, the US government issued an order to confiscate all private gold so it could gain control of the money supply.Would we see such panic regulation again?I’m not convinced either politicians or banks are thinking this far ahead though, so I suspect we’ll see a mish-mash of inconsistent regulation in the mean time.The situation in Germany is different though, it has a strong productive economy, has Austrian-school economists in government, and would probably like to free itself of the Euro.I expect the most positive Bitcoin regulation will come from there, ECB backlash notwithstanding.Max, Co-Founder of Bitcoin Manchester responds: This depends on what country.

If we see the growth at the pace we seen it this year it will very much become a game of politics for acceptance of the currency.The more “open” the media is in a country the more likely they are too accept bitcoin.We have already seen the beginning of this with China.Ron Gross, Mastercoin Foundation Executive Director of responds: 2013 was the year regulators throughout the world started paying attention to Bitcoin.In 2014 we are going to see some bold movements in that space.Governments like Honduras are pushing the regulatory limits (see Edan Yago’s work).I believe that larger government are also going adjust their positions in 2014.Canada, Germany, Switzerland are all likely players to continue pumping out regulation that’s positive to Bitcoin.I believe that key elements in the U.S leadership also want to keep U.S as one of the key players in the space, and will not allow U.S regulation to continue stifling startups, or even worse, pushing things like CoinValidation.I do not expect any western government to outlaw Bitcoin (in 2014 or ever).

Vytautas Karalevičius, CEO of Spectro Coin responds: Firstly, it has to be considered that 12 months is a short period of time and probably is only enough for a preparation of regulation framework, but not its implication.However, in longer time horizon we expect virtual currencies to be covered under new edition of EU payment’s directive, which would put virtual currency transactions under similar framework as e-money transactions of fiat currencies.Similar process will be implemented in other jurisdictions.From AML perspective, more work will be done inside regulatory bodies to develop techniques to watch flows in the virtual currencies economy itself and use benefits which public ledger provides to them and based on this practice tailored AML requirements for virtual currency companies will be proposed later on.Also we expect of introduction of regulation for businesses, which are solely working with virtual currencies and do not directly use fiat currencies and in such way manage to avoid regulation today.

Dominik Weil, Co-Foudner of Bitcoin Azerbaijan responds: The “Wild West” days of Bitcoin where you could completely fly under the radar with your Bitcoin business are definitely over (in case you serve a notable scale of customers and don’t try to run your business completely anonymous via the Darkweb – and even there the law enforcement will try to track you down, if you are involved in any “criminal activities” by their definition ) – and all the regulators around the world have done or are doing heavy scrutinies on how to deal with that new kind of technology.12 months from here, the given regulatory framework will become much clearer – and if the governments are not acting stupid, they will provide a framework, which makes it possible for the Bitcoin economy to prosper.It is very clear, that the governments as well as the most big players in the current financial system initially don’t like Bitcoin, due to the fact, that Bitcoin is diminishing their power.If they could, they would have shut it down like they have done with other potential “threats” to their monopoly (e-gold, New Liberty Dollar etc.)

– the thing with Bitcoin is: They just cant.The idea is out there – and it will never go away.It cant be “undone”.There is not a single point of failure, which they could attack.So at this stage, they have to understand, the upside potential of Bitcoin – and that this kind of thing is the future.If they don’t want to fall behind the development, they should provide a business-friendly and Bitcoin-friendly regulatory framework – in order to secure one of the front positions during the “global financial revolution” which is on the horizon thanks to the Bitcoin technology – and which will affect much more areas then just money/currency.The currency/money function is just the beginning – and we will see many, many more developments on top of that over the upcoming years – some of them are in the pipeline already; some we probably even cant imagine now.Matt Elias, Legal/Regulatory Advisor of Mastercoin responds: In the West regulation will remain in a state of permissiveness, wherein Bitcoin is still very much a grey area.

The possible introduction of “BitLicenses” in various U.S.states (NY & CA) may mark a change to a more prohibitory or regulated environment.In the East, the rhetoric will continue to be that of restriction and caution, although demand will often circumvent these meek efforts.Smaller jurisdictions may devise innovative legal frameworks to attract startups and capital from abroad.Kevin Barnes, CEO of Playcoin Entertainment responds: Bitcoin as currency-Slowly as large corporations accept bitcoin as an added revenue source and accept it.Governments cannot completely prevent corporations from accept bitcoin.Thus they will tax it.Governments will feel less pressure from the citizens regarding the countries fiat and inflation.As a percentage of the countries economy will be propped with free market bitcoin and related currencies.So if the government officials want to remain in office ,they will see that they can when a vote by being btc friendly.My personal opinion, is cryptocurrency takes some of economic development responsibilities off the central banks/governments shoulders.

That is why Playcoin Entertainment Corp.is dedicated to bitcoin enabling the video and gaming industries.Teemu Päivinen, CEO of Coinmotion responds: Bitcoin is still at a very early stage, where many of todays leaders and decision-makers do not quite understand the currency.It seems to me like everyone is waiting for someone to make the first move.China did, which was to be expected, with its history of squashing similar phenomenon.The western world, though, seems more and more open to the idea of a virtual currency not restricted by geographic location.On all subjects Bitcoin, the US is the thought leader, and will slowly aid in ushering in an era of virtual currencies.Other countries will then follow suite, creating new regulatory frameworks that can effectively be applied to virtual currencies.Taxation policies will become increasingly unified and will end up closer to the policies applied to currency exchange than those applied to digital goods.Keny, Founder of GetToKnowBitcoin responds: The Federal Government has already stated the current regulations and laws that are on the books are sufficient in regulating and prosecuting illegal activity with bitcoin.

So, I don’t see many changes on that level.However, I think we’ll see a clear instruction on how the IRS will handle bitcoin.The IRS will determine if bitcoin will be taxed as capital asset or a currency.If I had to guess right now which direction the IRS will tax bitcoin, it would probably be as a currency.Michal Handerhan, CEO of BitcoinShopUS responds: It’s my believe that US government will finally take an action and provide a guidance in regards to Bitcoin transactions for both the customers as well as merchants operating in the Bitcoins commerce (like BitcoinShop.US).In addition it’s extremely important for law makers to realize Bitcoin is a global financial vehicle so any tight regulations will simply push business like BitcoinShop.US outside the US borders.There is already handful of other countries that encourage Bitcoin economy (Swiss, Singapore, Canada etc.).Wouter Vonk, Founder of Bitgild responds: This is always a tough subject as many will argue that bitcoin can not be regulated.

However in my opinion governments will not vanish within the next years so they will try to find a way to get more control over it.Exchanges and bitcoin related companies will play a big part in this as they are the players that control large cash flows.Recently New York has thrown in the idea of Bitcoin licenses.I think we will see more ideas and attempts like that in the coming year.Esther Tung, founder of The Bitcoin Co-op responds: Several more countries will release their legal and official stance on Bitcoin, particularly around tax reporting.It’s unlikely that countries will outright ban Bitcoin, as it’d be much more profitable for governments to co-opt it and try to turn it around into something that benefits only the people in power, keeping in line with our current financial system.That’s why mainstream adoption of Bitcoin is important, so that more people get on board with working with keep that from happening.Antony, Business Development at itBit responds: itBit sees regulators accepting digital currencies as legitimate, and discussions starting around how they are treated – as a currency, commodity, voucher, or other asset.

Or indeed a new class of assets.John Delono, Founder of Bitcoin Reviewer responds: I am confident that we will see a lot more government regulation this coming year.Authorities are starting to realize that Bitcoin can have a huge impact on the global economy.It would not be possible for them to completely ban the use of cryptocurrency, and it’s obvious that lawmakers are trying to adapt existing laws to work with Bitcoin.Eddy Travia, Co-Founder of Seedcoin responds: I believe that various governments will issue regulation to enable Bitcoin to be used in a fully compliant manner with local money transmitting and fiscal laws and this will positively impact the whole Bitcoin ecosystem.Nikos Bentenitis, Founder of CoinSimple responds: Most regulators are still learning about Bitcoin.As the number of companies that accept and use Bitcoin increases, the number of people who can educate and influence regulators will increase.Frederic Thenault, Founder of iceVault responds: We are likely to see more regulation – and this is not necessarily a bad thing.

For one thing, it means that governments are realising the fact that bitcoin has moved from being “something for geeks” to being something that the mainstream could be interested in.You know the saying, first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then… The beginnings of Bitcoin were plagued with the negative purposes that people could use them for – from money laundering to drugs and arms trafficking.But in fact, most tools and technologies, either digital or not, can be used for good or for bad.Same goes with Bitcoin (and you could say the same thing about cash by the way).The point is, the vast majority of people want to hold and use Bitcoin for legitimate reasons.Some see it as a cheaper, faster way of making payments (especially when speaking of micro, international payment, it’s much more efficient than what the banks can currently offer).Others see it as an investment tool.A reasonable amount of regulation means a safer range of services that can benefit users, especially since some of them have been defrauded from their Bitcoin holdings either through hacking or through misplacing trust in unreliable service providers.

The path to mass-market adoption (we are not there yet, even though recent adoption rate is quite impressive) demands guidelines and safety guards that reasonable regulations could help foment.That being said, there is of course always a danger of over-regulation – or banning – in some countries, which is a cause for concern.Yet recent moves by major Western governments are quite encouraging.Aaron Williams, Founder of Atlanta Bitcoin responds: I think we’ll see more clarification of regs come out of the US govt regarding Classification, Taxes, and Money Transmitter definition.Business who exchange USD for Bitcoin will still be expected to create and maintain AML/KYC programs, but I think there will be some reform on how they are exactly classified.We are already seeing NY take the lead on that and I think all the other states will wait to see what they do before making any changes in their states.Michael Dunworth, CEO of snapCard responds: I would prefer them to spend the next 12 months educating themselves on what Bitcoin is and what potential it has on a global scale.

responds: Each country has their own regulations, and they will dictate the rules in a way it is more beneficiary for them.Our main concern is to apply proper AML/KYC procedures so that everything is in order if authorities decided to conduct any audit.Daniel Mross, Director of The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin responds: I expect regulation to evolve slowly, but steadily, especially as businesses start adopting bitcoin for use in commerce.A lot of banks are still wary of bitcoin, mostly because of the regulatory uncertainty, but I suspect bitcoin is nearing the point where the burden and costs of moving regulation forward will be worth the early mover advantages.I expect the SEC approval of the Winklevoss trust will pass, and if so it will open the floodgates for additional funds and financial products to include bitcoin and possibly other crypto-currencies.For individuals, I think most Americans are eager to hear what the IRS decides regarding taxation and I believe we will see new tax rules that apply to digital currencies.

Alexander Lawn, director of KnCMiner responds: I believe we all hope to see encouraging steps in the right direction.Governments are without doubt taking it more, and more seriously and I think for the most part are keen not to make rash decisions.There is obviously an existing financial industry to consider, and whilst cryptocurrencies are here to stay at an institutional level they need to be able to integrate seamlessly.Over the weekend the UK Government has revealed they are ready to alter their classification of Bitcoin from being a tradable voucher to that of a private currency, meaning VAT becomes non applicable, with only capital gain being applied if a sum is held for more than a year.So I would rather they take their time to review the opportunities a burgeoning financial industry presents us all with.I believe governments are taking Bitcoin seriously enough to consider proactive regulation, and I welcome their discussion on the topic further.Alan Silbert, CEO of BitPremier responds: It will be an important year, as governments will further develop their regulatory framework around virtual currencies.

That will probably include further AML/KYC requirements for companies in the Bitcoin ecosystem and stated guidance on tax issues.Bitcoin will move out of the regulatory and tax ‘gray area’ in many countries, and the global picture for Bitcoin friendly/unfriendly countries will further develop.As a result, Bitcoin startups will use the guidance from international governments to decide where to put their flag in the ground.Mrs P, the founder of The Bitcoin Wife responds: I think we’re going to see more governments weighing in and declaring their official status on Bitcoin and how it can be used.In the US we could potentially see a knee-jerk reaction once taxes are filed and information is officially gathered from Bitcoiner’s filings on how big it’s presence really is here.Whether or not the Bitcoin community is going to care, good or bad, is another story.Mark Norton, editor at Bitcoin Warrior responds: Bitcoin has been making the news over the last year and getting some attention from regulators.

Within the Bitcoin community, it’s easy to feel that these are huge events and that the government is carefully considering how to handle Bitcoin.In fact, Bitcoin is still a small enough economy that every coin could be purchased at the current price by many thousands of individuals, organizations, and governments around the world.This means that despite Bitcoin’s meteoric rise over the last year, it is still a trivial thing to most regulators.These regulators don’t have the time, manpower or resources to adequately tackle their most important cases; for now, they will only pay attention to Bitcoin when something happens to make them take notice of it.Right now, though they don’t know it, we are in a race with the regulators.The race is to get more people aware of and using Bitcoin and getting it more and more entrenched in the economy.When the regulators finally wake up to Bitcoin, and they will, it would be best if they did so with the realization that there is little they could do that is effective and that there are many people from all walks of life that will oppose them.

I personally believe that the biggest push against Bitcoin is going to come from the banks and the credit card companies.Just recently, Wells Fargo announced that it was having a ‘summit’ to determine ‘rules of engagement’ with cryptocurrencies.The banks are already aware of the disruptive potential Bitcoin has, but also view it as too small, difficult, and obscure for most people.I expect that they think that cryptocurrencies will eventually find a role to play, but that they will do so within the existing banking framework, perhaps replacing the ACH system.When people start closing bank accounts because they bank with their Armory wallets, when they stop using their credit cards so much because they can pay with their cell phones, and when they start remitting money themselves to other countries, Bitcoin will start affecting the banks’ bottom lines.That is when you will see a governmental and media blitz against the evils of Bitcoin.Over the next 12 months, I am not really expecting much movement on regulation.

I think that will come in 2015 or 16.In the next year we are going to see a building of the pressure that will eventually lead to attempts at regulation.Alan Donohoe, Founder of Bitcoin Association of Ireland responds: Regulation will make or break Bitcoin, this will vary around the world.Businesses will be put off from accepting Bitcoin given the fringe nature of the industry at the moment, to a certain extend we need some regulation for it to become truly mainstream.It’s unclear how regulations of Bitcoin might evolve in Ireland, A concern is that overseas legislative action could drive innovation in financial services to other countries.Ireland is at the forefront of innovation with many silicon valley lead companies and start ups taking root, so i believe in Ireland the law makers will see the light and do the right thing.One of the strongest arguments in favor of regulation is the need for consumer protection, something Bitcoin currently lacks.This area will need to be addressed.