Financial regulators in New York are making changes to state’s cryptocurrency program
New York State regulators are taking a step forward in making it easier for companies to engage in cryptocurrency operations. Yesterday, a new proposed licensing ruleset was presented by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) and the agency is asking for public input about this plan from now until August 10. This move represents an effort to change the “actual or perceived hurdles” that companies are facing when trying to obtain the state’s BitLicense, which was introduced in 2015.
This framework would allow companies to participate in digital currency business activities to obtain a conditional license more easily. That license would allow the companies to collaborate with fully licensed companies, according to NYDFS. New York was one of the first states to introduce a framework for the crypto ecosystem, while other regulatory agencies were rather skeptical about virtual currencies. Nowadays, it has become a rapidly growing industry that represents a mixture of finance and technology, which is attracting the attention of leading traditional financial entities.
Nevertheless, obtaining a BitLicense is quite a long process that can take up to a year, according to a few virtual currency companies. So far, New York has granted 25 licenses to virtual currency companies since 2015. Also yesterday, the agency said that this process will make it easier for companies to offer and use new digital currencies. The regulators will release a list of pre-approved tokens from which license holders can choose from and self-certify for use without needing additional approval from the agency.
