The founder of Silk Road, the black market website where illegal goods were bought with bitcoin, was found guilty on all 7 counts, including money laundering, drug trafficking and computer hacking. While this is an unfortunate result for Ross Ulbricht, who faces life in prison, the enforcement against illegal uses tied to bitcoin will only help the crypto-currency in the long run. The early adopters of many new technologies are the bad guys. Bitcoin is no exception.

Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies are enabling and will continue to enable transformational change in financial payments and public ledger transactions, but it is imperative for anyone operating in the space to understand the legal issues that go along with this.