Research

Realm of the Coin: Bitcoin and Civil Procedure

Year 2015
Author Max Raskin
Publisher SSRN:Fordham Journal of Corporate and Financial Law, Vol. 20, No. 4, 2015
Link View Research Paper
Categories

Bitcoin / Cryptocurrencies / Regulation

Bitcoin is a private currency issued and governed by a global network of computers. Thus far, the majority of legal cases involving bitcoin have been criminal prosecutions or disputes between bitcoin companies. If bitcoin or some iteration continues to grow, courts will need to craft rules of civil jurisdiction. This paper is the first attempt to apply existing rules of civil procedure to bitcoin. Bitcoins ought be treated as tangible property for the purposes of jurisdiction. Although they have an incorporeal form, as a practical matter, courts are able to site bitcoins to a single location and thus should do so. This allows courts to apply existing due process and comity jurisprudence.