Kraken Joins Exchanges Refusing to Apply for a BitLicense, Suspends Service in New York

UPDATE (10th August 10:16 BST): Since the publication of this article, bitcoin exchanges Kraken and Bitfinex have also confirmed they will not apply for a BitLicense to operate in New York. Bitcoin businesses wanting to continue serving New York residents have approximately 24 hours left to file their BitLicense application. The deadline, set for 8th August, marks the end of a 45-day grace period following the publication of the BitLicense in the New York State register. Formulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), the long-awaited regulatory framework has....

Note: this is a developing story. LocalBitcoins.com has discontinued service to New York State because of the state's BitLicense. LocalBitcoins.com joins BitFinex, Kraken and other cryptocurrency companies bolting New York on account of the law that prohibits the sale of bitcoin without a license. LocalBitcoins.com greets visitors with a popup window advising them to say whether or not they are New York state residents. The window provides a brief explanation of the regulation, 23 NYCRR 200, then asks them if they are a New York resident. Users then have to check a green-colored box saying....

Peer-to-peer bitcoin exchange LocalBitCoins has joined the exodus of companies exiting the state of New York refusing to comply with the BitLicense. There has been a torrent of activity over the last few days over the August 8 deadline for declaring corporate compliance with New York’s infamous BitLicense regulation. Many companies have chosen to opt-out of the regulation and the New York State market altogether. This verdict seems to also apply to the popular Bitcoin wallet provider and peer-to-peer exchange LocalBitCoins.com, who has posted a message on their site regarding this....

BitLicense has been a huge pain to many bitcoin and digital currency based startups operating in the State of New York. Once BitLicense was made mandatory and the deadline to apply for BitLicense surpassed, few of the companies decided to withdraw their services from New York while other companies who considered New York to be an important market decided to stick on and apply for it. Circle, a bitcoin based money transfer application was one among the many bitcoin companies that applied for BitLicense and recently it went on to become the first company to receive BitLicense from New York....

The world's largest peer-to-peer bitcoin marketplace Local Bitcoins and bitcoin marketplace BitQuick have terminated their services in New York due to the strict restrictions and fees demanded by New York's BitLicense. Local Bitcoins is a unique case; as every single seller on Local Bitcoins would be required to pay $5,000 to apply for BitLicense. The Local Bitcoins team wrote on their blog:"From today onwards users from New York are no longer allowed to use LocalBitcoins because of the legislation known as the BitLicense (23 NYCRR 200) which makes it a federal offense to sell virtual....