{"id":27229,"date":"2015-06-03T23:33:27","date_gmt":"2015-06-03T23:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ci027cfe7050032697"},"modified":"2015-06-03T23:33:27","modified_gmt":"2015-06-03T23:33:27","slug":"final-bitlicense-rules-new-york-state-released-today-nydfs-superintendent-ben-lawsky-1433374407","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/business\/final-bitlicense-rules-new-york-state-released-today-nydfs-superintendent-ben-lawsky-1433374407","title":{"rendered":"Final BitLicense Rules for New York State Released Today by NYDFS Superintendent Ben Lawsky"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/final-bitlicense-rules-for-new-york-state-released-today-by-nydfs-superintendent-ben-lawsky.jpg\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p>New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky today released the final version of the BitLicense regulations, saying that his \u201cgut feeling\u201d was that digital currencies are here to stay.The BitLicense program to require digital currencies businesses in New York state to operate with a license and report to government has long been in the making and included two revisions with comment periods to allow for public criticism and input.Many felt that Lawsky had to find a reasonable balance between protecting consumers and allowing digital finance innovators to develop without unnecessary red tape and restrictions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawsky Defends the Need to Regulate<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Saying it often \u201cseems like technologists are from Venus and regulators are from Mars,\u201d Lawsky defended the need to \u201cprotect consumers\u201d and \u201croot out illicit activities.\u201dAnswering the criticism that anti-money-laundering and fraud regulations already existed, he maintained that digital financial systems are very different from the traditional \u201cdisco era\u201d banking system and don\u2019t fit the new reality of fintech.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Changes to Final Version of BitLicense Framework<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Lawsky said there were five minor changes to the BitLicense program between the second and third versions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Companies do not need to report on minor changes in the way they do business, but do need to report on a \u201cmaterial change\u201d such as changing from making wallets to running an exchange.<\/li>\n<li>Companies working on fintech software do not need to report, only companies that are holding other people\u2019s money in trust.<\/li>\n<li>Companies do not have to \u201ccross satisfy\u201d under different programs. If you have a trust charter, you don\u2019t need a BitLicense and vice versa.<\/li>\n<li>Companies reporting suspicious activities to federal authorities do not have to also report to NYDFS.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cPassive investors\u201d joining companies do not have to report or get approval. Only a \u201ccontrol person\u201d will need to report to the regulators.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Lawsky noted that his office received 4,000 comments after the first draft was released but only 35 comments after the second draft was released, so they figured they must be closer to \u201cgetting it right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Who is covered under the BitLicense program<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Businesses covered include those \u201ccontrolling, administering or issuing a virtual currency\u201d with the following exemptions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Blockchain technology for noncurrency purposes<\/li>\n<li>Software developers that aren\u2019t engaged directly in money transmission or exchange<\/li>\n<li>Miners<\/li>\n<li>Individual investors<\/li>\n<li>Merchants who accept bitcoin<\/li>\n<li>Licensed banks<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Criticisms from the Digital Currencies Community<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Many businesses and organizations in the Bitcoin space submitted comments to Lawsky\u2019s office noting that the regulations would create a \u201cbitcoin backwater\u201d as digital currency businesses simply move elsewhere to friendlier jurisdictions.Organizations such as Coin Center&nbsp;and companies such as Coinbase <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/articles\/bitlicense-comment-period-closes-fred-wilson-coinbase-coin-center-weigh\">noted that the BitLicense rules<\/a> simply added another layer of regulations to laws that already exist at the federal level to cover money laundering and fraud.&nbsp;In addition, many commented that Lawsky\u2019s rules put too high a financial burden on new startups, requiring them to buy a license and pay for reporting to government.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Revolving Door<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As was <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/articles\/superintendent-lawsky-to-leave-the-nydfs-and-start-consulting-business-cato-institute-cries-foul-1432419932\">reported&nbsp;earlier<\/a>, the Cato Institute and others have criticized Lawsky for taking advantage of his role in developing the BitLicense rules and then moving to the private sector to offer consultation and advice on these same regulations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky today released the final version of the BitLicense regulations, saying that his \u201cgut feeling\u201d was that digital currencies are here to stay.The BitLicense program to require digital currencies businesses in New York state to operate with a license and report to government has long [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2916,"featured_media":27228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2347,1868,1127],"class_list":{"0":"post-27229","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-bitlicense","9":"tag-currencies","10":"tag-regulations"},"author_data":{"id":2916,"name":"Jessie Willms","nicename":"jessie-willms","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34e39b2d2b80d0f1b4eaf183ca23eff71d1e903536d749658f27936a80197dee?s=96&d=robohash&r=g"},"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/final-bitlicense-rules-for-new-york-state-released-today-by-nydfs-superintendent-ben-lawsky.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2916"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}