U.S. Government Nastygram Shuts Down One-Man Bitcoin Mint Mike Caldwell
The cryptocurrency world was recently rocked by news that Mike Caldwell, the one-man bitcoin mint behind the Casascius coins, had received a cease and desist letter from the U.S. Government. Caldwell had been producing the physical coins with actual Bitcoin value embedded in them since 2011, but the government declared the coins to be a form of money services business, and ordered Caldwell to stop production.
Background on Mike Caldwell
Mike Caldwell, a former software engineer from Utah, rose to fame as the creator of the Casascius coins. The Casascius coins were physical coins with embedded Bitcoin value. To use the coins, the buyer would simply peel off a hologram on the coin to reveal the private key to the Bitcoin wallet. Caldwell had been producing the coins since 2011, and the coins quickly became popular with Bitcoin enthusiasts.
Government Nastygram
In January of 2014, Caldwell received a cease and desist letter from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The letter declared that Caldwell’s production of the coins was a form of money services business, and ordered him to stop production of the coins. The government argued that Caldwell was engaging…
