Libertarian Party condemns government persecution of Bitcoin exchange vendor
First they came for those who traded Liberty Dollars, and I said nothing—
because I had no Liberty Dollars.
Then they came for Bitcoin exchange vendors, and I said nothing—
because I had no bitcoins.
Then they came for Bitcoin exchange vendors, and I said nothing—
because I had no bitcoins.
Then they came for the rest of us whose only currency was Federal Reserve notes...
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Randall Lord, Libertarian candidate for U.S. House in 2012 and 2014 |
The Libertarian Party vigorously condemns the
trumped-up case against Randall Lord, a former Libertarian candidate, who was
sentenced to 46 months in prison for the victimless “crime” of operating an
unregistered money service business involving Bitcoin, a digital
currency.
Trading bitcoins is perfectly legal. Major
retailers such as Microsoft, Expedia, Dell, Overstock, and Whole Foods accept
bitcoins. Prosecutors targeted Lord for not being registered with the Financial
Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Treasury, and for not
being licensed to operate as a money service business in his home state of
Louisiana.
Despite his conscientious objections to
government currency controls, the Shreveport resident attempted to
comply with the laws and regulations governing Bitcoin. He filed for
registration with FinCEN, but the bureaucracy misplaced his filing, for which he
now faces almost four years in prison.
Lord was not licensed in Louisiana because
state officials had told him that Bitcoin is not a currency, and therefore he
didn't have to have a license to operate. Then in March 2013, FinCEN expanded
the definition of "currency" so they could pull exchanges like Lord's under
their regulatory control.
Lord pleaded guilty to not having a state
license, but later he proved to the court that the state did not require one.
Then a federal court ruled that "unlicensed" could also mean "not registered
with the Treasury Dept." and refused to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea
and take this issue to trial.
Every aspect of this case is a
travesty:
- politicians’ insatiable addiction to spending, which they finance by printing dollars out of thin air, devaluing the dollar and in turn creating the demand for alternative currencies such as Bitcoin;
- the contemptible government regulations these very politicians enacted to obstruct Bitcoin trading, and which were used to prosecute Lord;
- the bumbling FinCEN regulators whose ineptitude set Lord up for prosecution (unless it was deliberate that they “misplaced” Lord’s filing);
- the use of multiple taxpayer-funded federal agencies—the IRS, FBI, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service—to go after Lord for openly trading a legal commodity and harming no one;
- the failure of prosecutors to show any intent by Lord to violate the law;
- the harsh sentence imposed on Lord, which appears intended to intimidate others who trade in bitcoins, much like the life sentence imposed on Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht; and
- the government’s as-yet uncertain plans to confiscate Lord’s assets, including possibly his home, adding to his family’s distress.
Randall Lord has long opposed the federal
government’s tax-and-spend policies and the Federal Reserve Bank’s manipulation
of the dollar. He did his part to try to change these onerous laws and
regulations when he ran for U.S. House on the Libertarian ticket in 2014 and
2012, receiving 27 and 25 percent of the vote, respectively.
This case illustrates that the problem is not
a well-meaning, civic-minded family man like Randall Lord who offers a service
to people aiming to preserve the value of their hard-earned money.
The problem is overspending by federal
politicians, their manipulation and regulation of currencies, and grandstanding
prosecutors who get rewarded for convicting people rather than for achieving
justice.
The solution is to overturn the sentence of
Randall Lord, repeal onerous laws and regulations, and stop federal government
overspending so that the dollar will stop losing value, jobs will be plentiful,
and Americans will be financially secure.
Please add your voice to ours in demanding
freedom for Randall Lord.