Bitcoin Exchanger Must Face Charges Related to Silk Road
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Bitcoins, the virtual currency that criminals allegedly used to buy drugs on the black-market Silk Road online bazaar, legally qualify as “money,” a judge overseeing two criminal cases tied to the site ruled.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan today denied a request by Robert Faiella, who faces trial next month on charges of running an illegal underground Bitcoin exchange, to throw out one of the counts against him. Rakoff rejected Faiella’s argument that he can’t be convicted of operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business because Bitcoins aren’t money.