Inside Asian Gaming

January 2014 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 39 that campaigns can accept Bitcoin as in- kind contributions. At the request of the Conservative Action Fund, the FEC recently took up the issue. The FEC determined the contributions may be accepted as in-kind contributions because the FEC regulates two categories of contributions—“money” and “anything of value,” and Bitcoin falls into the latter. Interestingly, the FEC chose not to make a determination as to whether Bitcoin constituted “money,” acknowledging the question still remained to be answered. • NewYork State Department of Financial Services New York traders of Bitcoin may be required to obtain a BitLicense from the New York State Department of Financial Services beginning sometime soon. The department announced in November its plans to hold public hearings on the matter in order “to balance both allowing new technologies and industries to flourish, while also working to ensure that consumers and our country’s national security remain protected.” At issue in the hearing will be how activities surrounding virtual currencies fit into the department’s current regulatory scheme and/or whether new regulatory guidelines will be necessary due to the “unique characteristics of virtual currencies.” Short-Term Uncertainty In 2013 we’ve seen the SEC argue, and a US District Court accept, that Bitcoin TECH TALK The first Bitcoin ATM opened in Vancouver in November with roughly US$95,000 processed through it during the first week, according to reports. transmission services” does not differentiate between real currencies and convertible virtual currencies. FinCEN determined that although virtual currency“does not have all the attributes of real currency … virtual currency either has an equivalent value in real currency, or acts as a substitute for real currency.” FinCEN then confirmed that “accepting and transmitting anything of value that substitutes for currency makes a person a money transmitter” under the FinCEN regulations implementing the Bank Secrecy Act. • Federal Election Commission InNovember,theFederalElectionCommission issued a draft advisory opinion determining Annual Theoretical by Customer Segment Average Casino Visits