BitPay executive chairman Tony Gallippi announced today that his company paid for its upcoming college football bowl game sponsorship in bitcoin. The surprise news came at a press conference held by BitPay and the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce to promote the upcoming Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl.

There, Gallippi revealed that BitPay paid ESPN Events, a subsidiary of the popular US sports network ESPN, in bitcoin in order to secure the sponsorship, a company spokesperson confirmed. Notably, Tampa Bay Business Journal has estimated that its full contract with the broadcaster is estimated at roughly $1.5m over the course of three years.

The event was held at the St. Petersburg Museum, which has announced that it will accept bitcoin as part of BitPay’s wider promotion for December’s main event, joining a list of merchants that includes Ferg’s Sports Bar and Grill, Green Bench Brewery Co and Hotel Zamora.

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In addition to Gallippi, BitPay CEO Stephen Pair and BitPay executive director of the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl Brett Dulaney were also in attendance. The Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl will be held on 26th December.

The news is the latest update on BitPay and its work to promote bitcoin through the major televised sporting event. Announced on 18th June, the promotion was widely covered by the mainstream media, including The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated and the editorial arm of ESPN.

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The Australian Tax Office (ATO) recently released its long-awaited guidelines on how bitcoin businesses and individual users will be taxed in Australia. The guidelines are similar in nature to those issued by Singapore in January, which received a mixed response from the bitcoin community.

In summary, bitcoins will not be regarded as ‘money’, and will be taxed in a similar way to other non-cash or barter transactions. As in Singapore, this raises the specter of double-taxation for some bitcoin transactions. Likely to be impacted most are businesses who have been transacting in bitcoin and treating it equally to the national currency, the Australian dollar (AUD).

Titled Tax treatment of crypto-currencies in Australia – specifically Bitcoin, the four-page guideline document is a “general in nature” draft version only, and not yet legally binding. The ATO has also not indicated when the rules will begin to apply, or whether (in the case of IRS guidelines in the US) they will be applied retroactively.

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“Transacting with Bitcoin is akin to a barter arrangement, with similar tax consequences”, the paper noted. “The ATO’s view is that Bitcoin is neither money nor a foreign currency, and the supply of Bitcoin is not a financial supply for goods and services tax (GST) purposes. Bitcoin is however an asset for capital gains tax (CGT) purposes.”

Items such as shares, bonds, loans, derivatives and foreign currencies are regarded as ‘money’ or ‘financial supply’ under existing regulations, and are not subject to GST (similar to sales tax or VAT in other jurisdictions).

These definitions are bound to cause some controversy. The bitcoin industry had argued that the broad definition of money could also include bitcoin, and asked for it to be defined as such. Were bitcoin to be defined as ‘money’, ‘foreign currency’ or even ‘financial supply’, exchanging it would not incur GST. This may, however, require legislative change and would likely have wider implications for other forms of non-money units, such as store loyalty points.

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Coins has launched its second bitcoin startup in Southeast Asia with the formal opening of Coins.co.th in Thailand. Led by CEO Ron Hose, Coins launched its Philippines-based bitcoin exchange and merchant processing service Coins.ph in March, at the time enrolling two larger merchants – MetroDeal and CashCashPinoy – in its services. While coinciding with fewer supporting announcements, its entrance into Thailand’s market, however, may ultimately prove more telling for bitcoin’s progress in Asia as a whole.

Coins.co.th has been exchanging baht and bitcoin in Thailand since its soft launch in June, when it received its e-commerce registration from the Huay Khwang District Office. A report by Bangkok Post states that the district office has deemed bitcoin as a form of commodities trading, clearing the way for the company’s regulatory approval.

Jaturong Jantarangs, the Bank of Thailand’s senior director of the payment systems policy department, reportedly told the media outlet that trading bitcoins for baht does not require approval or a license from the central bank. As such, Coins.co.th claims that its exchange is now ‘fully legal’ under Thai law.

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The move can be seen as a positive sign for bitcoin’s progress in Asia, given that the Bank of Thailand was widely believed to have banned bitcoin in 2013. The determination also follows statements from the Bank of Thailand issued in March that suggested it did not consider bitcoin a currency.

While it is not being treated as a money services business, Coins.co.th indicated that it does need to follow related laws such as Thailand’s Civil and Commercial Code and Consumer Protection Act, as well as its anti­-money laundering (AML) regulations. Topp Jirayut Srupsrisopa, who will manage Coins.co.th, added that he expects bitcoin’s legal situation in Thailand to become more clear over time, as local regulators learn more about the market and its potential.

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