Did Bitcoin appear in " The Good Wife " before any other TV show ?
On 6 August 2013 , Federal Judge Amos Mazzant of the Eastern District of Texas of the Fifth Circuit ruled that bitcoins are " a currency or a form of money " ( specifically securities as defined by Federal Securities Laws ) , and as such were subject to the court 's jurisdiction , and Germany 's Finance Ministry subsumed Bitcoins under the term " unit of account " — a financial instrument — though not as e-money or a functional currency , a classification nonetheless having legal and tax implications .