NYDFS will review BitLicense issuance

The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) will review BitLicense licensing procedures for cryptocurrency companies and exchanges.

This was stated by the head of NYDFS Linda Lacewell (Linda Lacewell) at a conference at the Institute of International Economic Law at Georgetown University. BitLicense is issued to companies so that they can carry out financial transactions with New Yorkers, even if these companies are located in another country.

Considering the strict requirements of the regulator for obtaining BitLicense, as well as the lengthy process of processing and checking documentation, the license has ceased to be in demand among startups working in the blockchain field. For example, the Kraken exchange chose to stop working with traders in New York, instead of seeking compliance with the requirements of NYDFS. In addition, this year the Bittrex exchange was refused a license due to a number of comments regarding anti-money laundering procedures and the process of placing crypto assets. According to NYDFS, at that time Bittrex did not consider it necessary to eliminate these problems.

“The time has come to conduct a more thorough examination of how our requirements are in line with today’s market. We may need to make adjustments to adapt to the ever-changing cryptocurrency environment, ”said Linda Laswell.

BitLicense began to be issued in 2015, since then the blockchain industry has undergone major changes, so many aspects are definitely worth revising. Representatives of NYDFS warned that you should not have high hopes for softening the requirements. However, NYDFS is ready to consider the cryptocurrency community’s proposals on how to improve the licensing process.

Laswell mentioned that 22 companies have already received BitLicense, including exchanges, BTC mining farms, and ATMs for bitcoin. At the same time, NYDFS continues to accept applications.

In March, BitLicense was issued to Tagomi Trading LLC, a cryptocurrency brokerage startup, and in July, two units of the Seed CX exchange received it. Also this summer, NYDFS launched a dedicated cryptocurrency unit, the Research and Innovation Division (RID), to track financial technology and monitor digital currencies.