Bar Association of Washington DC evolved fourth, to publish a conclusion over endorsing crypto as an acceptable form of payment.
Across the United States, four-bar correlates that are handed out reporting that they won’t oppose cryptocurrency or digital currency as a form of payment for services provided
The District of Columbia Bar Association (DCB) developed the most recent, publishing a belief opinion which states that lawyers in the nation’s capital could ratify cryptocurrency as a form of payment as long as the fee is reasonable and objectively fair to clients.
According to the DCB, any lawyer who submits crypto as payment must also take “competent and reasonable security precautions to safeguard that property”.
Other bars approving digital payments
The DCB currently has approximately 100,000 members, making it one of the hunger bar associations in the U.S. to state it is “not unethical for a lawyer to accept cryptocurrency.”
The New York City bar federation issued a statement in July 2019 calling crypto payments “business transactions”, while the DCB refers to them as “payment in property” rather than in fiat.
“The majority of people we know regard Bitcoin as “shady money,” and they may well regard lawyers accepting Bitcoin as “shady lawyers.” Will Bitcoin be legitimized one day in the eyes of average Joes and Janes? Maybe—but not soon.”
Why now ?
The DCB refers to crypto as a “volatile alternative currency” that “raises an ethical challenge for lawyers,” it also admits digital currency may be in everyone’s future:
“Lawyers cannot hold back the tides of change even if they would like to, and cryptocurrency is increasingly accepted as a payment method by vendors and service providers, including lawyers the rules are flexible enough to provide for the protection of clients’ interests and property without rejecting advances in technologies.”
