Re: [Taler] USA regulatory thread part 1

[Jeff Burdges]

On Sat, 2016-12-03 at 12:08 +0100, Changaco wrote:
> You have to register in every state and it's expansive

It's likely a "Taler exchange in the USA should partner with an existing
money transmitter". 

There are however several more limited approaches from which one could
build up the business that allow starting out with less regulatory
overhead, albeit with less functionality.

(1) There are good odds these state licenses apply only to one side of
the transaction, probably the customers' side since the state's has a
strong interest in the solvency of the financial institutions its
residents use.  A Taler exchange accepting CA customers might need to go
through all that, but a Taler exchange accepting only MO customers can
likely still pay merchants in CA.  

In particular, a Taler exchange could perhaps partner with a different
bank, or credit union, in each state to operate nationally.  This is
actually our preferred model for Europe. 

(2) Operate a Taler exchange and its merchants as components of one
business, effectively turning Taler into a gift card or in-store
credit. 

(3) Operate a Taler exchange that handles "not real money" with BitCoin
being the obvious choice, but video game currencies work too.  Second
life had quite a serious economy.  Eve has an economy that cares about
privacy.  Anyone remember what Mt. Gox originally stood for?

(4) Find an easy way for American customers to use a Taler exchange in
Europe.  If they're buying digital goods, hosting, etc., then they'll
find plenty of suppliers based in Europe.

Jeff

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