Hill on Virtual Currencies

Julie Andersen Hill has posted Virtual Currencies & Federal Law on SSRN with the following abstract:

The rise of virtual currencies, like many innovations, poses legal questions. Most existing laws do not contemplate the existence of virtual currencies. Can existing U.S. criminal law, tax law, banking law, securities law, and consumer protection law nevertheless be applied to virtual currencies? This article provides an update on federal regulators' recent attempts to tackle these questions. Because virtual currencies are new, the law is still developing. There are unanswered questions and the current answers are subject to change. Nevertheless, we must start somewhere.