New York regulators have approved their first license to a company dealing in virtual currency such as bitcoin.
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New York State’s financial regulator has issued its first bitcoin license, bringing consumer protection, compliance and cybersecurity guidelines to what still is very much the Wild West of the financial industry.
WSJ noted that Circle is now able to conduct its mobile payment service, wherein users can receive and send US dollars and bitcoins.
Alongside other functionality, the new service will allow United States customers to hold, send and request dollars from their contacts and refuel their account by bank transfer or credit card. They plan to add the euro and pound sterling next, followed by other currencies such as the Chinese yuan in the future, she said.
Mitchell described Circle Internet Financial as a consumer payments company.
Internet entrepreneurs Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville founded Circle in 2013. “We think of ourselves as a consumer finance company”. The New York Department of Financial Services has said that 22 companies have applied for the license, which carries a $5,000 application fee, and approvals should continue. Under those rules, existing virtual currency firms had until August 10, 2015 to apply for a Bitlicense.
Many of those issues were resolved, and though still not ideal , the BitLicense and its requirements became clear and irrefutable prerequisites for serving and supporting everyone in New York. Today, the currency is worth substantially less but while the hype has gone, real interest remains in bitcoin or the idea of virtual money.
New York City is also home to a growing number of bitcoin-related businesses, including the Winklevoss twin’s Gemeni, ItBit, CoinSetter, Symbiont, and Consensys. The service does not make users convert into and out of Bitcoin, as that is handled by the platform automatically, said the newspaper.
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