<p>Note: This is a US-centric answer. Other countries may differ. I'll add other countries as people leave comments.</p>

<ul>
<li>There is an arbitrary <a href="http://www.fincen.gov/financial_institutions/msb/definitions/msb.html" rel="nofollow">limit</a> of $1,000 per person per day that triggers the necessity to register as a money service business. Stay under that FinCEN is unlikely to care about you, although you still may legally need to register for smaller transactions.</li>
<li>As long as a single transaction does not exceed $10,000, your financial institution should not file a Suspicious Activity Report.</li>
<li>You are best opening an account at an institution separate from your personal, general use accounts.</li>
<li>Try to keep cash liquid. Buy local, sell local. If you've got enough volume, use money orders to get fiat into your exchange of choice. It'll cut into your profits a little, but it reduces the number of parties privy to your transactions. <em>Do not fraudulently fill out money orders.</em></li>
<li>Keep solid books that include the fiat price at the time you purchased your bitcoin and the price of sale. This will help you calculate capital gains taxes.</li>
<li><strong>Pay taxes.</strong> Assuming you're in the US, this means paying taxes quarterly instead of yearly, unless you expect to owe less than $1,000.</li>
<li>If you do register with FinCEN, please document the process and broadcast here, on <a href="http://bitcointalk.org" rel="nofollow">BitcoinTalk</a>, and on <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/bitcoin" rel="nofollow">/r/bitcoin</a>.</li>
<li>Be truthful, upfront, and, most of all, careful. When in doubt, talk to a lawyer.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-18T19:48:39.613Z
@Pacerier: I am not, but the basics not involving the government are likely similar. It's safe to assume that every country has some kind of financial crimes watchdog like FinCEN.
Colin Dean
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-24T07:35:42.473Z
You should clarify who your answer applies to.  It seems very specific to the United States.
zkilnbqi
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-24T15:26:11.057Z
Sorry, I perhaps erroneously assumed that FinCEN was more well-known than it is.
Colin Dean
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-15T14:40:17.517Z
Are you aware of the workings of other major countries like England etc?
Pacerier
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-29T03:20:59.210Z
You should clarify your particular experience/expertise/qualification(s) in the field(s) that you answer applies to.
Willtech
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-10T16:52:37.473Z
2013-11-24T15:26:42.543Z
2013-11-24T15:26:42.543Z
Colin Dean
<p>I'm wondering what the practical / legal limits are on selling Bitcoin as an individual using Craigslist and LocalBitcoins. Will I run into legal issues / frozen bank accounts as I scale this? Right now I'm doing about $1K of selling per month, but I could see that expanding to $1K - $3K per week.</p>

<p>I take all the payments in cash, so this will be 1-3K per week in cash going into my credit union ATM.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-10T14:09:06.963Z
Thanks for the feedback I've updated my question title to reflect my concerns
David Silva Smith
<legal><sell-bitcoins><otc><localbitcoins>
Legal issues / banking issues selling Bitcoins to people OTC?
David Silva Smith
# Legal issues / banking issues selling Bitcoins to people OTC?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-08-07)

I'm wondering what the practical / legal limits are on selling Bitcoin as an individual using Craigslist and LocalBitcoins. Will I run into legal issues / frozen bank accounts as I scale this? Right now I'm doing about $1K of selling per month, but I could see that expanding to $1K - $3K per week.

I take all the payments in cash, so this will be 1-3K per week in cash going into my credit union ATM.

**Tags:** legal, sell-bitcoins, otc, localbitcoins

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks for the feedback I've updated my question title to reflect my concerns  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2013-08-10. Score: 10

Note: This is a US-centric answer. Other countries may differ. I'll add other countries as people leave comments.

* There is an arbitrary [limit](http://www.fincen.gov/financial_institutions/msb/definitions/msb.html) of $1,000 per person per day that triggers the necessity to register as a money service business. Stay under that FinCEN is unlikely to care about you, although you still may legally need to register for smaller transactions.
* As long as a single transaction does not exceed $10,000, your financial institution should not file a Suspicious Activity Report.
* You are best opening an account at an institution separate from your personal, general use accounts.
* Try to keep cash liquid. Buy local, sell local. If you've got enough volume, use money orders to get fiat into your exchange of choice. It'll cut into your profits a little, but it reduces the number of parties privy to your transactions. *Do not fraudulently fill out money orders.*
* Keep solid books that include the fiat price at the time you purchased your bitcoin and the price of sale. This will help you calculate capital gains taxes.
* **Pay taxes.** Assuming you're in the US, this means paying taxes quarterly instead of yearly, unless you expect to owe less than $1,000.
* If you do register with FinCEN, please document the process and broadcast here, on [BitcoinTalk](http://bitcointalk.org), and on [/r/bitcoin](http://www.reddit.com/r/bitcoin).
* Be truthful, upfront, and, most of all, careful. When in doubt, talk to a lawyer.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Are you aware of the workings of other major countries like England etc?  
> **username_1**: @username_3: I am not, but the basics not involving the government are likely similar. It's safe to assume that every country has some kind of financial crimes watchdog like FinCEN.  
> **username_2**: You should clarify who your answer applies to.  It seems very specific to the United States.  
> **username_1**: Sorry, I perhaps erroneously assumed that FinCEN was more well-known than it is.  
> **username_4**: You should clarify your particular experience/expertise/qualification(s) in the field(s) that you answer applies to.  

---

