Bitcoin overcame another historical milestone - the cryptocurrency first appeared in a conclusion published by the US Supreme Court.
The case of Wisconsin Central Ltd against the United States is not related to the regulatory or legal status of Bitcoin. It examined the question of whether the stock option of employees is taxable income in accordance with the Taxation of Pension Benefits Act for railway workers of 1937.
Consideration of such a case may seem an unsuitable occasion for discussion of Bitcoin. However, the judges had to consider a fundamental issue that became especially important in the last decade after the publication of Bitcoin's White Paper: "What is money?".
Ultimately, most judges decided to not tax the employees because of stock options, as this action does not fall within the definition of "cash reward". However, Judge Stephen Breyer spoke in his statement for a "broader understanding of money" and said stock options should be classified as taxable.
In Breyer's conclusion, which included a quote from the book "Money: The Uninhabited Biography - From Coinage to Cryptocurrencies", the judge used Bitcoin as an example of changing the nature of money and suggested that "perhaps one day workers will receive a salary in Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency". He wrote (quotes are omitted):
"Moreover, what we view as money has changed over time. Cowrie shells once were such a medium but no longer are ... our currency originally included gold coins and bullion, but, after 1934, gold could not be used as a medium of exchange... [P]erhaps one day employees will be paid in bitcoin or some other type of cryptocurrency."
Judges Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan joined Breuer and supported his position.
This first mention of Bitcoin in the US Supreme Court is unlikely to be the last of its kind. The emerging association between the cryptocurrency and illicit drug trafficking and other criminal activities may float in the case.
Ross Ulbricht (Ross Ulbricht) - operator of the now non-existent market Dark knight Silk Road wants to appeal its verdict in the Supreme Court. He claims that the government violated the Fifth and Sixth Amendments during the investigation and sentencing (he is serving a life sentence without parole).
Perhaps it's far too early to say – but it's not impossible that questions about the nature of bitcoin could one day make their way to the Supreme Court.