John Simonyan-DigitalExpress; The petition seeks a declaratory statement from the Office on whether Petitioner's proposed business activities (of selling Bitcoin through an automated machine while transactions are maintained only between the company ...

 

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

Finance

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Office of Financial Regulation has declined to rule on the petition for declaratory statement filed by John Simonyan-DigitalExpress on January 4, 2016. The following is a summary of the agency's declination of the petition:

The petition seeks a declaratory statement from the Office on whether Petitioner's proposed business activities (of selling Bitcoin through an automated machine while transactions are maintained only between the company and the customer, not a third party vendor) fall within Florida’s money transmitting licensing statute Chapter 560, Florida Statutes. The facts provided in the Petition are inadequate for the Office to make a determination whether Petitioner's proposed activities constitute money transmission. Although Petitioner states that his machines "sell" Bitcoin, the Petition is silent regarding the details of the receipt and use of Bitcoin by the customers. Without specific information on the manner in which the customers would: (i) receive Bitcoin; (ii) use Bitcoin to purchase goods and services online; and (iii) use Bitcoin "to store value like digital gold," the Office cannot ascertain whether Petitioner would be transmitting monetary value, i.e., operating as a money transmitter. A Declaratory Statement is not available to Petitioner because the facts provided in the Petition are not clearly identified or delineated. The Office issued a Final Order March 2, 2016 Denying the Petition for Declaratory Statement.

A copy of the Order Declining of the Petition for Declaratory Statement may be obtained by contacting: Agency Clerk, Office of Financial Regulation, P.O. Box 8050, Tallahassee, Florida 32314-8050, [phone].