Bitcoinist Assistant Editor’s Formal BitLicense Comment
In early February, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) released their revised BitLicense proposal to the public. This revision took place following a 90 day public commenting period for the first BitLicense draft held by the department during the latter part of 2014. Recently, the Department has opened up an additional 30-day commenting period for the revised draft, in which anyone can submit their thoughts towards BitLicense. I, Evan Faggart, Assistant Editor of Bitcoinist.net, have been a vocal opponent of BitLicense since the release of the initial proposal in 2014. I....
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The 30-day period during which the public can submit comment on the latest draft of New York's BitLicense proposal has begun. The formal comment period was initiated by the publication of the notice in the New York Register, a weekly periodical designed to keep state citizens up-to-date on rulemaking. Following roughly three weeks since the introduction of the framework, the publication seems likely to spur a new round of debate over the regulation and its more controversial measures. Speaking to CoinDesk, a number of the more prominent voices in the bitcoin community voiced concerns that....
The new BitLicense will open for a 30-day public comment period in just a few days. In a speech to the Bipartisan Policy Council, a Washington D. C. think tank, New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) Superintendent Ben Lawsky told the world about the new BitLicense's impending release date as well as several planned changes. Also read: NYDFS's Ben Lawsky Reveals Plan for Transitional BitLicense at #Money2020. Changes in the new BitLicense. Notably, a new BitLicense is not required for consumers or merchants seeking to transact in Bitcoin; furthermore, Bitcoin-related software....
As the official comment period for the proposed BitLicense regulation comes to a close this month, two of the largest Bitcoin companies in America have revealed their public comment to the New York Department of Financial Services. Circle, a new competitor to Coinbase that provides on and off ramp services for Bitcoin to Fiat and vice versa, as well as BitPay, a leading Bitcoin merchant services and invoicing company, both revealed their official positions on the current BitLicense today. Also read: Bitcoin Foundation Condemns Lack of Transparency in New York BitLicense. Circle's Public....
Bitcoin company Xapo recently released its second comment letter on New York’s revised BitLicense. Additionally, the company has teamed up with other bitcoin industry leaders in submitting a combined comment letter to provide further feedback on the BitLicense proposal. After BitLicense was introduced by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) last year, Xapo released its first letter providing its comments. The NYDFS released its revised BitLicense proposal in February 25, 2015. Shortly afterward, on March 27, 2015 Xapo released its second BitLicense comments.
As described in a blog post released today, the Bitcoin Foundation has submitted a second public comment to the NYDFS's proposed BitLicense public comment period. The NYDFS has refused to reveal the "needs and benefits" justifications, which are legally required, for the BitLicense's severity. In this comment, Bitcoin Foundation General Policy Counsel Jim Harper emphasized that: The sacrifice of some decentralization in furtherance of other benefits to the Bitcoin ecosystem must meet a high burden of proof. Nobody should want a regulation that sacrifices Bitcoin's benefits if doing so....