Bitcoins and Bankruptcy

By Phil Lamos, Chief Legal Counsel, Office of the Chapter 13 Trustee Craig Shopneck (Cleveland, OH)

In my almost 20 years at the Trustee’s office I’ve had to put a value on everything from a 1962 Ford Falcon to a song copyright to a collection of hermit crabs, and now there is something new to value: Bitcoin.

What is Bitcoin? Bitcoin is “virtual” currency, sometimes referred to as cryptocurrency. Bitcoin was founded in 2009 to provide a decentralized and anonymous method of making financial transactions. Bitcoin (and other less prevalent cryptocurrencies) are unique in . . .

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