Virtual money is officially a commodity, just like crude oil or wheat.
So says the Commodity Futures Trading Commission , which on Thursday announced it had filed and settled charges against a Bitcoin exchange for facilitating the trading of option contracts on its platform.
"In this order, the CFTC for the first time finds that Bitcoin and other virtual currencies are properly defined as commodities," according to the press release.
By this action, the CFTC asserts its authority to provide oversight of the trading of cryptocurrency futures and options, which will now be subject to the agency's regulations.
In the event of wrongdoing, such as futures manipulation, the CFTC will be able to bring charges against bad actors.
