Last week, the New York State Department of Financial Services, or NYDFS, proposed changes around its state-wide BitLicense legal guidelines. Gemini, a crypto exchange calling New York home, sees the NYDFS' move as a positive. Gemini's chief compliance officer, Noah Perlman, told Cointelegraph: "The proposed conditional licensing framework is another step the DFS is taking to help ensure this industry continues to grow and innovate — so that it becomes more accessible to more people without compromising safety or security." The NYDFS suggested BitLicense alterations last week New York has made a name for itself as a regulatory hotbed in …

The New York State Department of Financial Services, or NY DFS, is proposing a “Conditional BitLicense” framework to reform its controversial BitLicense regulation introduced in 2015. In a request for comment released on June 25, the regulator details its reformed approach to issuing conditional BitLicenses. This license type had already existed since the beginning of the program, but there were no clear rules for accessing it as it was entirely at the discretion of the regulator. The new framework would allow prospective licensees to collaborate with an existing BitLicense holder to obtain dedicated guidance relating to the structure, capital, systems …

Jonathan Herzog is running for Congress in New York’s 10th district, and is counting on the support of the crypto community to push him past the incumbent of almost 30 years, Jerrold Nadler, in Democratic primaries. Herzog received a bachelor’s degree from Harvard, an MBA from NYU Stern, and is currently on the leave of absence from the Harvard Law School. He was a founding member of Andrew Yang’s presidential campaign, from whom, admittedly, he borrowed a few ideas. He is running on a progressive platform — universal basic income (UBI), universal healthcare, publicly funded elections and national cryptocurrency regulation. …

April 28, New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) announced that it is adding a former Silk Road investigator as general counsel. The Department regulates financial services and products, which include cryptocurrency-related businesses. It awards the two types of licenses that many crypto businesses seek — a money transmitter license and a BitLicense. Previous experience: Silk Road, cryptocurrency, FIFA The announcement quotes the superintendent of financial services Linda A. Lacewell on the past achievements of the new general counsel Richard Weber: “Rich brings unquestioned integrity, legal acumen, and management experience to DFS. His extensive leadership experience and depth of …

People in the United States now have another zero-fee option to buy Bitcoin (BTC) with the U.S. dollar. On Jan. 30, Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange bitFlyer launched its commission-free campaign for BTC/USD trading pair to its U.S. customers. bitFlyer USA operates in 47 states in the U.S. and holds New York BitLicense The zero-fee feature is only available for the BTC/USD trading pair and has been implemented on bitFlyer’s pro trading tool, bitFlyer Lightning, the firm noted in a blog post. The campaign is automatically applied to all new and existing bitFlyer USA customers clients, while the end date of the …

Cryptocurrency entities licensed under the New York’s Financial Services Law (FSL) should pay the costs of regulatory oversight, Governor Andrew Cuomo believes. The Democratic Governor purportedly wants the state authorities to amend the FSL in order to require virtual currency-related entities within the FSL jurisdiction to foot the bill for examination and oversight conducted by New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). The NYDFS is one of primary regulatory agencies for crypto-related businesses in New York state as the regulator issues a major business license for cryptocurrencies, the BitLicense. As the home of the financial capital of the United …

California-based financial firm SoFi has acquired a BitLicense from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), the regulator said in a statement on Dec. 3. SoFi is now one of 24 crypto-related firms that have obtained a BitLicense since 2015, Bloomberg Law’s crypto reporter Lydia Beyoud tweeted the same day. Specifically, SoFi has acquired two licenses — a virtual currency license (BitLicense) and a money transmitter license — that will allow SoFi Digital Assets to offer crypto trading services to its New York customers. According to the announcement, the firm is authorized to support a total of six …

Cryptocurrency custody providers seem to be springing up all over the global digital landscape in 2019, and the crypto platform Coinbase emerging as the leader in the sector. At their very core, custody platforms are designed to serve as independent storage/security units that are aimed primarily at institutional investors. These solutions, more often than not, tend to make use of a combination of various hot and cold storage technologies. Also, while cryptocurrency exchanges and regular wallet systems conventionally utilize private keys (and other such security protocols) to protect an individual’s holdings, these alphanumeric phrases can be quite difficult to remember …

Daniel Matuszewski, head of over-the-counter (OTC) trading at the money transfer and BitLicensed crypto trading company Circle, has resigned. The Block reported news of Matuszewski’s departure on Aug. 2. He apparently said that he was resigning to pursue a “brand new entrepreneurial opportunity in crypto.” According to the report, an anonymous source has said that Nick Gustafson will be entering Matuszewski’s prior role. Gustafson previously worked as a trader at cryptocurrency exchange Kraken’s OTC unit, and appears to have worked as a trader at Circle for a little over a year, according to his LinkedIn profile. Circle’s OTC Department As …

In late July of 2019, the New York State Assembly appointed six members to its Digital Currency Task Force, claiming to be the first state-drafted crew across the United States to deal with cryptocurrencies and blockchain. While it is unclear if the influx from Facebook's Libra has hastened the NY legislators to assemble the team, the first reports from the Digital Currency Task Force are expected to arrive not sooner than the very end of 2020. The Digital Currency Task Force’s initial lineup, goals and deadlines Despite the recent appointments, the crypto task force isn’t fully formed yet. It will …

Fidelity’s crypto arm Fidelity Digital Assets Services (FDAS) has reportedly applied for a license to operate as a trust in New York State. FDAS has filed an application with the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) for a trust license, crypto media outlet The Block reported on July 20, citing several unnamed sources familiar with the matter. If the license is approved, FDAS will officially be allowed to offer its crypto custodial services in the state of New York, operating as a Limited Purpose Trust Company, the report notes. In the report, lawyer Arthur Long said that the trust …

Social media giant Facebook has applied for a cryptocurrency business license to use its announced virtual currency Libra in New York, according to a report by Reuters on June 28 New York requires a special license for crypto operations called the BitLicense, which is a product of the state’s finance regulator, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). According to the report, Facebook has also been in contact with regulators in England and Switzerland, presumably to discuss the terms of Libra compliance. Facebook is reportedly aiming to launch Libra by 2020, and a spokesperson for the social media …