NYDFS will launch a special cryptocurrency unit

The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has announced the launch of a special cryptocurrency unit, called the Research and Innovation Division (RID).

NYDFS Superintendent Linda Laswell said (Linda Lacewell) that the new division will monitor emerging financial technologies and “be responsible for licensing and supervising virtual currencies.” Also, the new department will be responsible for issuing BitLicense – licenses for the purchase, sale and release of cryptocurrencies in the state of New York.

Matthew Homer (Matthew Homer), who previously worked at Plate’s fintech company, will become the head of the new division. His deputies will be Matthew Siegel and Olivia Bumgardner, while Andrew Lucas will act as a lawyer.

Recall that NYDFS has been regulating the cryptocurrency industry in the state of New York since 2015. Note that until 2018 only eight BitLicense were issued, but recently the rate of issuing licenses has increased and now there are more than 20 licensed companies in the state.

For example, NYDFS recently approved the issuance of BitLicense to two divisions of the Seed CX cryptocurrency derivatives exchange.