
Coinbase, Ripple Close to Landing New York Bitcoin Licenses - petethomas
http://reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSKCN0XW2FA
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Hermel
New York's "Bitcoin License" slows down Bitcoin development and makes startups
go somewhere else. London and Zug (Switzerland) are much more crypto-friendly.
New York might be missing a big opportunity here.

~~~
edraferi
ShapeShift is super vocal about this. They halted business in New York after
the bitlicense was required.

Nice to see the application process finally stat moving though.

~~~
tveita
So an exchange who lost a significant amount of money in a hack recently is
vocally opposed to a license that requires exchanges to perform security
audits and to stay solvent?

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11550765](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11550765)

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chatmasta
I know this "BitLicense" is technically different than the more general
licensing requirements for "money transmitters." But FinCEN compliance is a
regulatory nightmare. The process of licensing as a "money transmitter" is
slow, expensive, and done on a state-by-state basis. The "money transmitter"
classification [0] is very broad, and effectively qualifies any middleman as
one. Keep in mind these are the same licenses that businesses like banks and
brokerages need to get.

The regulatory compliance process is so expensive and complex that even large
companies sometimes delay getting the proper licensing. Facebook, which
qualifies as a money transmitter due to its payments system, and operates in
all fifty states, at one point had licenses in only fifteen of them. [1] So
technically Facebook was operating as an unlicensed money transmitter for
multiple months.

Also see a quora answer for some personal anecdotes (behind FB nag wall). [2]

And I'm a big fan of the article "money laundering is financial thoughtcrime,"
posted to HN a while back. [3]

More:

[0] [http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-
idx?SID=f7495bb4cb9f4181f15...](http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-
idx?SID=f7495bb4cb9f4181f1505d475bb7fb22&mc=true&node=se31.3.1010_1100&rgn=div8)

[1] [http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/facebook-obtains-money-
tra...](http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/facebook-obtains-money-transmitter-
licenses-in-15-states/275376)

[2] [https://www.quora.com/How-hard-is-it-to-get-a-money-
transmit...](https://www.quora.com/How-hard-is-it-to-get-a-money-transmitter-
license)

[3] [http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/money-laundering-
is-...](http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/money-laundering-is-financial-
thoughtcrime-1058902-1.html)

