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Germany Kinda Recognizes Bitcoin

Steven PerlbergAug 19, 2013, 23:44 IST

Flickr / zcopleyGermany has clarified its position on Bitcoin, everyone's favorite digital cryptocurrency.

After a parliamentary inquiry from the Federal Ministry of Finance, Bitcoin achieved "unit of account" classification, further upending its schtick as an unregulated safe haven.

Germany had previously said Bitcoin should be subject to capital gains tax like regular trading activity. The new ruling could mean the virtual currency will soon qualify for a sales tax too. From MarketWatch:

“The German Ministry of Finance does not classify bitcoins as e-money or as a functional currency; they cannot be regarded as a foreign currency. Nevertheless they have to be subsumed under the German term of ‘Rechnungseinheit’ as a financial instrument,” Martin Chaudhuri from the Ministry of Finance told CoinDesk. Rechnungseinheit translates to unit of account in English.

Regulators in the U.S. have also bumped up Bitcoin scrutiny. The state of New York subpoenaed about two dozen Bitcoin merchants as part of an investigation into their compliance with financial statutes.