A Bitcoin trade group met with representatives of several U.S government agencies Monday as regulators debate whether the online currency should comply with currency rules.
Bitcoin critics have raised questions about the ability to anonymously use the online currency and launder money through the service. The agenda of Monday's meeting, with the Bitcoin Foundation and agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of the Treasury and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., was to help regulators and law enforcement officers better understand Bitcoin and distributed finance, said Patrick Murck, general counsel of the foundation.
The foundation wants to help the agencies "make better decisions and develop new methodologies for identifying and interceding illicit activity," Murck said in an email. "Bitcoin and distributed finance is here to stay and our preferred path forward is a cooperative one, where we all can help ease each other's transition into an inclusive and distributed global financial system."
Representatives of the FBI and FDIC declined to comment on the meeting. A Department of Treasury spokeswoman didn't return an email seeking comment.
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