Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Bitcoin in Lebanon
Bitcoin in Lebanon
Legal aspects
22 MAY 2014
MONA EL ACHKAR JABBOUR
PRESIDENT OF LITA
MEMBER FOUNDER OF THE PAN ARAB
OBSERVATORY FOR CYBER SECURITY
MAJ_AJ@HOTMAIL.CON
Our concerns
Where there is money there is crime
Bitcoin
Masterpiece of technology
Open source software
It is based on peer to peer and digital signature
Digital currency system created to facilitate internet
commerce
Replacing trust with cryptography
Distributed and de-centralized financial payment system
no transaction fees
anonymous transfer
difficult
Security: theft of bitcoins, crash of digital currency
Lack of national control because of the nature of the
network
Irreversible transactions (protection of consumer)
Bitcoin police (self regulation)
Sovereingty
Legal status
Gray region
consumer protection
cyber crime
privacy
issues
Speculation
A way to get a profit by Bitcoin is speculating on the
The problem of theft of Bitcoin is exactly the same for any other
Bank robbery!
in 2012 a group of hackers exploited a vulnerability in the
users
Currency Dimensions
Use
Organization of values
Sovereighnty of nation states
People wellfare
Who is concerned?
Who use it?
In the beginning, (hobbyists and mathematicians.
Actually, ordinary people (for legal purchase, no
legal byrden)
ordinary users, miners, and exchanges
And
People seeking to protect privacy
cyber criminals and terrorists
Exchangers
exchange firms help users convert between bitcoins and
traditional currencies.
These companies qualify as money-transmitting
businesses and are therefore subject to applicable
regulations
Bitcoin exchanges need to register as moneytransmitting services with the relevant state or federal
authorities and comply with regulations governing
money-transmitting services
That may not be easy
leading Bitcoin exchange, Mt.Gox, is currently located in
Japan
Money laundering
Problems
Counterfeiting
(in the context of digital money its the double spending
problem)
Bitcoins solution: use of blockchain
Redistribute wealth
Reduce unemployment
Finance deficit
No official backing
Based entirely on faith
currencies)
Tax evasion
Sale of stolen credit cards
Funding of online gambling (in jurisdiction where it
is prohibited)
Purchase pf drugs online (silk road marketplace=
TOR. It accepts only bitcoins