Lawsky Reveals Lighter Regulation for Bitcoin Startups
New York financial regulator Benjamin Lawsky today announced his revisions to the proposal for bitcoin regulations outlined in the BitLicense documents released earlier this year. Having initially drawn criticism from the digital currency community, Lawsky agreed to take another look at the details and announced the revisions today. The initial subject addressed was who would be required to obtain a BitLicense - namely only financial intermediaries. This means developers, miners and individuals who hold BTC for personal retail or investment use will not be required to get a BitLicense.....
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The Department of Financial Services superintendent, Benjamin Lawsky, who has been leading the charge in an effort to regulate bitcoin, is reportedly considering resigning from his position in early 2015. Benjamin Lawsky is perhaps the most powerful person in New York State to be pushing regulation on the bitcoin community. Many are curious as to where Lawsky will go: a bank? a finance company? a Bitcoin company? an elected position? After the election of last week, it's not uncommon to see several resignations follow. Perhaps the most interesting resignation is that of Benjamin Lawsky.....
Just yesterday, New York State Department of Financial Services Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky took to Twitter to acknowledge he would "try" to do a Reddit AMA (short for ask-me-anything). As of Tuesday, it looks like Lawsky is willing to carry on through with his AMA Q&A session, expected to largely surround the topic of his work on bitcoin regulation. Lawsky said he's "hopefully" looking for the session to take place later this week. "Thanks to all for request/feedback on doing a Reddit AMA about #Bitcoin. Working to set up a time soon. Hopefully later this week." (source). Lawsky is....
Though no major policy developments were announced this week, the highlight seemed to be New York's Financial Services Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky agreeing to a request for a public question and answer session ("ask me anything") with users of online content aggregator Reddit. Though many users were clearly skeptical of Lawsky's answers and anxious about Bitcoin regulation, the tone of thediscussion was somewhat more positive than the public flogging of Lawsky that might have been expected. If you don't care to read the entire thread for yourself, Lawsky's comments could be summarized....
The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has announced that it is considering creating a special type of transitional BitLicense tailored to the needs of small businesses and startups. The special licensure would allow bitcoin startups that meet certain criteria to operate within a more flexible regulatory framework for a yet-to-be-determined period of time, during which examinations of the business would be conducted. The formal announcement of the NYDFS' shift in strategy came during superintendent Benjamin M Lawsky's keynote speech on the opening day of Money 20/20, an....
Just recently, New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) superintendent Benjamin Lawsky announced his decision to step down from office to start a business consulting firm. Lawsky has been known for his strict implementation of financial regulation in the state and for BitLicense. BitLicense is a framework of regulation designed to oversee activities in the bitcoin industry in particular. This has drawn a lot of opposition, particularly from bitcoin startups, who might wind up incurring too many costs in acquiring the necessary licenses to offer their products and services in New....