Bitcoin bar association ethics opinion professional#
“We do not perceive any basis in the Rules of Professional Conduct for treating cryptocurrency as a uniquely unethical form of payment. They should be interpreted with reference to the purposes of legal representation and of the law itself. Rules of Professional Conduct The Rules of Professional Conduct are rules of reason. The American Bar Association (ABA) said last year that the decentralized nature of digital assets, meaning that they have no central authority behind them, has raised some “ethical questions” about whether or not lawyers should accept them.ĭespite those initial hurdles and concerns, though, the DCB’s ethics opinion was significantly more optimistic regarding cryptocurrencies in this week’s statement: Program services include publication of formal advisory opinions and confidential informal consultation with legal ethics counsel. However, when Nebraska introduced it, the state specifically advised lawyers to convert all digital currencies into US dollars immediately upon receiving them. Prior to DC, North Carolina, Nebraska, and New York City bars have issued similar opinions in favor of lawyers operating in their jurisdictions to start accepting cryptocurrency payments. Hence, the IRS agreed that “payment of fees in cryptocurrency is more akin to payment in property than payment in fiat currency.” US Bars Change Of Heart For Crypto The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) describes cryptocurrencies as a “digital representation of value that functions as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and/or a store of value.”īecause of this definition, the agency treats digital currencies as property rather than currency for US federal tax purposes. Otherwise, both parties risk to end up transacting a different amount than intended. The DCB noted that attorneys “cannot hold back the tides of change even if they would like to, and cryptocurrency is increasingly accepted as a payment method by vendors and service providers, including lawyers.”ĭue to the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies, the committee outlined the necessity to judge the arrangement fees at the time they are completed, instead of when they become improvident. The ethics committee highlighted the growing popularity of digital currencies to serve as payment options. Washington DC Lawyers To Accept CryptoĪccording to the ethics opinion published by the (DCB), attorneys in the US capital can start accepting cryptocurrencies, “as long as the fee agreement is fair and reasonable and the lawyers can safeguard the virtual property.” Lawyers operating in the US capital Washington DC can accept cryptocurrencies as a legal payment method, said the District of Columbia Bar Association (DCB).Ĭonsequently, DC has become the fourth US jurisdiction to allow digital assets to be used for attorney payments.
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