First Virtual Currency Hearing Held In U.S. Congress

Congressmen from the United States met publicly for the country’s first ever hearing on virtual currencies, most notably the skyrocketing bitcoin.

The hearing was entitled “Beyond Silk Road: Potential Risks, Threats, and Promises of Virtual Currencies” and lasted around three hours.

Silk Road was an online marketplace where users could buy illicit goods using bitcoins. Its owner was accused of a slew of crimes, including seeking out a hitman.

“Criminals will always seek new technologies to further hide their crimes,” Mythili Raman, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, testified in front of lawmakers. A lot of testimony was cautionary in nature.

However, Raman made it clear that virtual currencies are not inherently illegal if they comply with current financial related regulations and laws.

“Smart regulation” was preached by Jennifer Shasky Calvery, Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Figuring out ways to make sure virtual currencies are used in legal ways and promote innovation and legitimate business was called an “evolving process.”

Bitcoins, specifically, have found a place in the online poker world so far in a post-Black Friday world, as a handful of sites have dabbled with them.

Bitcoins, which first hit the scene in 2009, were trading at $629.97 as of around 4:30 p.m. EST on Monday, which was an all-time high.

News of the hearing prompted a large spike in a single bitcoin’s value.

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