Bitcoin ‘not real money’ says judge

On a trial for illegally transmitting and laundering $1,500 worth of bitcoins to undercover agents who intended to use them to purchase stolen credit cards a Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Teresa Mary Pooler threw out all charges and has past the ruling in which she said bitcoin was not real money. Judge Pooler says that there was no financial transaction because Bitcoin is not money. ‘Bitcoin is not, “backed by anything” and is “certainly not tangible wealth and cannot be hidden under a mattress like cash and gold bars.’

The ruling is in line with the position taken by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) which issued guidance to taxpayers in year 2014 on how to treat Bitcoin – and other virtual currency – for federal income tax purposes. Also it is a line with the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling that bitcoin was exempt from VAT because it is not tangible property.