For the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), the goal of BitLicense is simply to have a framework in which digital currency companies can offer their services while protecting consumer interests.
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New York regulators have approved their first license to a company dealing in virtual currency such as bitcoin.
Under BitLicense rules, virtual currency firms operating in New York had until August 10, 2015, to apply for a BitLicense.
To view the full article, register now. The BitLicense itself will allow the company, and others that follow Circle Internet, to expand and attract customers to their currency services, while also mandating compliance with anti-money laundering and other security rules.
Having secured the first license, as well as a money transfer license for U.S. dollar transactions in the state of New York, Circle can now freely provide its services in the area.
“We’ve been fairly vocal about our concerns with the BitLicense, especially in its initial incarnation”, the company noted in a blog.
The firm, founded in 2013, released a new version of its mobile payment service on Tuesday.
As of this writing, the bitcoin industry isn’t heavily regulated unlike most financial markets that are overseen by watchdogs such as the CFTC or NFA.
Circle uses bitcoin blockchain technology to allow consumers to send and transmit dollars, President and co-founder Sean Neville said in an interview.
For that to happen, consumers will need to be able to trust bitcoin holdings – something that New York’s BitLicense is meant to encourage. To date, the New York Department of Financial Services said it has received 25 applications, which it will continue to evaluate for approval. “We are trying to move expeditiously”, said Matthew Anderson, the deputy superintendent for public affairs at the DFS.
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