On October 2, 2014, the Bitcoin Foundation Canada, the Bitcoin Embassy and the Bitcoin Alliance of Canada were panelists for the Senate Committee on Banking, Trade, and Commerce Committee’s “Study on the Use of Digital Currency”. As chief-legal-officer of the Bitcoin Foundation Canada, I had the privilege of sharing a panel with four other top-notch digital currency industry experts. It was a truly fascinating experience and I was extremely impressed by the quality of the Committee’s questions and their interest. Their 2015 report is eagerly awaited. Re-printed below is a copy of the statement that I made and a link to the video of the testimonies.

Remarks by the Bitcoin Foundation Canada Senate Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce Study on the Use of Digital Currency

by: Jillian Friedman

Mr. Chair and honourable Senators, Mr. Babin-Tremblay and I are both here as directors of the Bitcoin Foundation Canada, the BFC. On behalf of our organization we thank you for the invitation to appear before you. The BFC is a federal not-for-profit corporation that is affiliated with the Bitcoin Foundation, a global organization headquartered in the United States. Currently there are nine affiliated Bitcoin Foundations in as many countries. The BFC is mandated to coordinate and lead efforts to protect and promote Bitcoin in Canada. This includes monitoring regulatory and legislative developments, educational campaigns, and supporting maintenance and improvement to the Bitcoin protocol.

I also speak to you as a member of the Quebec bar and my remarks today will focus on consumer protection law in Quebec and digital currency, specifically Bitcoin. We can identify the applicable legal rules by looking at the function or activity in which Bitcoin is being used. To quote American Judge Frank H. Easterbrook, “the best way to learn the law applicable to specialized endeavours is to study general rules”. Guided by that principle, it is clear that claims that Bitcoin offers consumers no consumer protection at all are simply false.

The question is not so much whether consumers need to be protected, but whether they need more than they already have. Consumer protection laws are broad and apply to consumer contracts for goods or services where Bitcoin is tendered as payment, whether the transaction is defined as barter or otherwise. Additionally, the chapter on sale in the Civil Code of Québec applies, mutatis mutandis, to contracts for exchange. A consumer’s purchase of Bitcoin from an exchange or vendor would also in principle be governed by these rules.

What does this mean? Consumers tendering payment in Bitcoin or purchasing Bitcoin enjoy implied and legal warranties under consumer protection law and the Civil Code. Additionally, Bitcoin exchange services subject to Quebec consumer law have to disclose any fees they charge to consumers, including exchange fees. It merits mention that traditional financial service providers are also subject to this rule and must disclose fees related to currency conversion services as was confirmed earlier this month by the Supreme Court.

Merchants must also provide instructions necessary for the protection of the consumer against risk or danger of which the consumer would otherwise be unaware. This obligation is relevant when dealing with a technology as novel and complex as Bitcoin especially since many users are still unaware of basic security precautions that need to be taken.

A key complaint about Bitcoin is that the irreversibility of transactions is seen to favour the merchant over the consumer. This is considered anathema to consumer protection law, which is designed to do the opposite. Recall however, that consumer protection law is not beholden to chargeback technology for the protection of consumers engaging in online commerce. In Quebec, the online merchant must perform his obligation before exacting payment unless a credit card is used. This means that if an online merchant sells goods and services for Bitcoin in Quebec to Quebec consumers, he must deliver before the consumer is required to pay. The Bitcoin sector has shown great interest in building its own solutions to the problem of trust in consumer transactions. One is the use of multi-signature addresses that require multiple permissions (or signatures) to transmit funds from a Bitcoin wallet. An escrow agent and dispute arbitrator can hold one key to a multi-signature wallet, and the consumer and seller the other two.

Securities law, which is premised on protection of the investing public, is the other major area of consumer protection law where Bitcoin and related technology is concerned. As is further set out the paper submitted by Attorney Hoegner and I, Bitcoin is likely not a security. Nevertheless, Bitcoin or other digital assets can be used as the unit of account underlying some part of a securities transaction, whether it be consideration for issuance or an investment fund denominated in Bitcoin.

It is important to examine digital currency in the context of a broader innovation known as “decentralized autonomous organization” technology, or DAOs. Decentralized autonomous organizations are software built to run on their own and mimic the operations of a corporation. The use of DAOs to raise funds, spend them, and make distributions through participation of its stakeholders is a highly anticipated use of this technology and has already been subject to experimentation. An issuance of ownership units and their trade in a secondary market may engage provincial securities rules.

We must acknowledge that digital currency technology is distinct from the programs and services that operate on it. Where possible, legal obligations should be based on the function performed rather than the technology, or medium, used to execute it. In the spirit of competition and technological neutrality – legal treatment of digital currency should avoid favouring the use of one technology over the other. Bitcoin is complicated and impressive and it requires a substantial level of technical understanding. It is encouraging that the Canadian government is indeed educating itself before making any decisions on these matters. The opportunity to share my thoughts and research with you here today has been a great honour. Thank you.