I think BitCoin was legal at creation; commoditizing data with protocol rules violates no laws — anymore than inventing the container, which automated much of what stevedores did, was.

More on this here:
https://equitydiamonds.medium.com/commodity-barter-is-legal-so-is-bitcoin-f9cc00f81a93?sk=b644109210508c820aabc588eefefd40