MIT and Coin Center Speak up against Critical Flaws in the Proposed BitLicense
A few weeks ago, Bitcoin Magazine reported that the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab announced the launch of a Digital Currency Initiative, to be directed by former White House senior adviser for mobile and data innovation Brian Forde. Soon afterward, lead Bitcoin developer Gavin Andresen announced that he and other....
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The ongoing debate about the role of governments in regulating digital currencies isn't going away anytime soon. While the dustup over New York's BitLicense program continues, another front has opened up in California where a member of the state assembly has introduced a bill to regulate California's digital currencies businesses. The Washington, D. C. -based Coin Center and the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) each have lobbied hard against the New York Department of Financial Services attempts to regulate New York businesses with its controversial BitLicense....
A proposed California law to regulate virtual currency has drawn mixed reactions from industry advocates, in stark contrast to the New York BitLicense that met united industry opposition. AB 1236 sponsored by Assemblyman Matt Dababneh requires virtual currency companies to be licensed. The measure passed the Assembly in June and awaits Senate action. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), based in San Francisco, has launched a petition opposing the measure. Coin Center, a Washington, D. C. -based group, supports the bill, calling it a cautious and well-researched approach to virtual....
Nonprofit Bitcoin Advocacy Group Coin Center recently published its views on the just-released Bitcoin regulatory framework, the BitLicense, saying that it will obstruct digital currency innovations in New York. The US-based organization was one of the most frequent and active voices to push for a tech-friendly BitLicense, but today stands disappointed with some of its problematic provisions. The first and the foremost issue discussed in Coin Center's blogpost is related to the anti-money laundering requirements which ends up being rather confusing than simplified. "The new language is....
When Ben Lawsky and the NYDFS met with key players in the Bitcoin community earlier this year, there were many questions of what the committee would propose and how it would affect Bitcoin entrepreneurs, businesses and the future of the digital currency industry. For nearly everyone in the Bitcoin ecosystem, the proposed BitLicense struck a nerve. It is a hot button issue including how the proposed rules and regulations will be debilitating to the digital currency industry, how a BitLicense will stifle continued innovation and mainly, the extremely short period which the NYDFS is giving to....
The 45-day window for public comments on the New York Department of Financial Services' (NYDFS) recent BitLicense framework continues to shrink, but the barrage of reactions from those with an interest in the industry has yet to lose its momentum. Most recently, two research fellows from George Mason University's Mercatus Center co-authored a 14-page response to the BitLicense proposal, highlighting some of its most critical shortcomings. Jerry Brito and Eli Dourado made a point to laud NYDFS Superintendent Ben Lawsky for his department's "forward thinking" in outlining rules and....