This is an article I wrote in response to the question, "What is Bitcoin's legal status?" WARNING: Crypto-Anarchist thought processes lie ahead... you have been warned! https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=184953.0 Here's a small snippet to peak your interest... =================================================== While it is true that the UNITED STATES (or, as I like to call it, the American Federal Empire) Treasury Department issued rules (or rather guidelines) regarding Bitcoin financial transactions, the fact is that Bitcoin is an international phenomenon… so, the joke is on the regulators. The American Federal Empire has no authority or power to regulate Bitcoin! Nor, for that matter, does any other "government". Sure, they can issue arbitrary decrees for anyone within the artificial lines drawn on a map over which they say they rule, but can they enforce? There is a reason this is called a "cryptocurrency", people. They may bring the hammer down on a person here or there, but their efforts are futile, especially if people take on the attitude that these criminal gangsters have no power or place here, and simply ignore their impotent decrees, as should be done. ================================================= Read the rest here.... https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=184953.0 .