--- description: The U.S. government says bitcoin is not a currency. title: U.S. Government Is Calling Bitcoin Anything But a Currency image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5e64dcee10767c7/698864320a4a224db09c6218/rtr3octs.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # U.S. Government Is Calling Bitcoin Anything But a Currency by [Chris Matthews / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Chris Matthews / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 18, 2015 3:41 PM CUT  A Bitcoin sign is seen in a window. A Bitcoin sign is seen in a window.© Mark Blinch / Reuters—REUTERS by [Chris Matthews / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Chris Matthews / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 18, 2015 3:41 PM CUT Many a bitcoin die-hard will tell you that the virtual currency is not only a currency, but also one of the few available for use that can’t be debased by greedy governments. It’s perhaps not surprising then, that the most powerful government in the world, at least when it comes to global finance, doesn’t even agree that bitcoin is a currency at all. On Thursday, the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission announced that it had settled charges against Coinflip, Inc., and its CEO Francisco Riordan for operating an exchange that sold bitcoin options without following appropriate regulations. “In this order, the CFTC for the first time finds that Bitcoin and other virtual currencies are properly defined as commodities,” [the press release](http://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/pr7231-15 "undefined") said. Last year, [the IRS ruled](http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Virtual-Currency-Guidance "undefined") that it would treat bitcoin as property, not as a currency, meaning among other things that gains from the sale of bitcoins can be taxed. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4040319/bitcoin-currency/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4040319/bitcoin-currency/"},"headline":"U.S. Government Is Calling Bitcoin Anything But a Currency","datePublished":"2015-09-18T15:41:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:06:38.724Z","description":"The CFTC is the latest agency to weigh in","url":"https://time.com/4040319/bitcoin-currency/","keywords":["Tech","Money","Bitcoin","Currency","IRS","pubdesk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5e64dcee10767c7/698864320a4a224db09c6218/rtr3octs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chris Matthews / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5e64dcee10767c7/698864320a4a224db09c6218/rtr3octs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A Bitcoin sign is seen in a window in Toronto","caption":"A Bitcoin sign is seen in a window in Toronto","creditText":"© Mark Blinch / Reuters—REUTERS","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4040319/bitcoin-currency/","name":"U.S. Government Is Calling Bitcoin Anything But a Currency"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Explains: What is Bitcoin?","description":"Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer “cryptocurrency” that can be used to purchase everything from Domino’s pizza to drugs on the deep web. Here's what you need to know.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/baM6a66m/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-11-04T17:47:23.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/baM6a66m.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4040319/bitcoin-currency/","duration":"PT2M45S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4040319/bitcoin-currency/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```