Even though Bitcoin has been present as a cryptocurrency for almost 10 years, there are still few Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations on the digital payment system. Mike DeBlis, partner at DeBlis Law explains the implications around reporting Bitcoin for Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) purposes
In the US, as elsewhere in the world, many lawyers are borderline technophobes.
In 2014, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the Supreme Court still used vacuum tubes to distribute messages long after these systems became available in Washington-area yard sales.
‘Judges and court executives are understandably circumspect in introducing change to a court system that works well until they are satisfied that they are introducing change for the good,’ he reasoned. That analysis is basically Lawyer speak for ‘judges don't like technological innovation.’ There may be some basis for that attitude, albeit not much.
For the same reason that many lawyers pine for the good old days when their laptops had A-drives, the law is usually well behind technology, and Bitcoin is an excellent example. Although the crypto-currency has been around for almost a decade, there are very few IRS regulations on the subject and almost no guidance whatsoever when it comes to foreign bank accounts.
