Presentation given at the American Society of Criminology Conference.

The paper will review the role of Bitcoin in various business transactions and criminal activity. Bitcoin is virtual money and banks such as Bank of America believes that Bitcoin will play a major role in both e-commerce and money transfer. Others believe that Bitcoins transactions more likely to be used by fraudsters by creating fraudulent investment schemes such as Ponzi schemes. The study will analyze Bitcoin scams, including types of scams, method of operations, prosecutions, and associated criminal sanctions.