US Blockchain Businesses Push for Alternative to State-By-State Licensing
Following the publication of a report by the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on FinTech innovation in March, six blockchain businesses and advocacy groups have submitted public comments that shed light on how they’re hoping to inform and influence the regulator’s future activity in the sector. While positive about the OCC’s action to better understand the industry, the majority of the respondents used the forum to advocate for the regulator to create a national licensing regime that would ease barriers to entry for startups. Industry representatives argued that what is....
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The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) has released a draft proposal for regulating digital currency businesses. The membership group, which represents bank regulators from US state agencies but does not play a direct role in how states craft new financial rules, outlined a number of areas in which it believes companies that work with digital currencies should be supervised, including approaches to consumer protection, licensing and security. Overall, the framework echoes elements of the New York State Department of Financial Services' (NYDFS) BitLicense proposal. The draft....
Coinbase has submitted an application for a BitLicense in New York State, making it one of the leading bitcoin businesses to seek the necessary regulatory approval. Coinbase advised CCN of its action in the wake of plans by other cryptocurrency businesses - such as LocalBitcoins, BitFinex and Kraken - to bolt New York due to the controversial regulation. The law prohibits the sale of bitcoin without a license. "We can confirm that Coinbase has submitted a BitLicense application," a Coinbase spokesman told CCN. "The process was a significant undertaking, but we're fortunate to have the....
My name is Marco Santori. I'm a business attorney for technology companies. In particular, I represent digital currency businesses. I am also the Chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation's Regulatory Affairs Committee. In this multi-part series, I will give a basic primer on the state of US law as it applies to digital currency entrepreneurs. I aim to help bitcoin businesses assess their risks and develop an informed business model. In the first two parts of the series, we covered the law of money transmission on the federal and state-level in the United States. We learned that not all digital....
State financial regulators in the US have received several inquiries about licensing bitcoin businesses, but few applications, it has been claimed. According to a report in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, the commissioner of banks in Massachusetts, David Cotney, claimed his state has only received one application to license a bitcoin business to date, with other states reporting similarly low figures. This news comes after the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) made a statement back in March that any company trading digital currencies would be regarded as a 'money transmitter'. In turn,....
With a new Senate bill on the table, New Jersey is getting closer to introducing a state-level licensing framework for crypto firms. The New Jersey Senate is set to consider a new bill that proposes the creation of a new, mandatory licensing framework for all cryptocurrency firms operating in the state.Introduced on Nov. 5, the new Senate bill, or "Digital Asset and Blockchain Technology Act," has been sponsored by the Democratic Party senator for New Jersey's 35th Legislative District, Nellie Pou. S3132 is now pending a referral to the Senate Commerce Committee. The Senate bill follows....