[Breaking] Bitstamp Granted 19th Virtual Currency License by New York State DFS

New York State Grants BitLicense to Bitstamp To Continue Crypto Operations

Operating in the United States as a cryptocurrency exchange platform is a little complicated, considering that there are some states that vary in their policies. One of the most stringent is New York, which requires platforms to apply for a BitLicense in order to operate.

In a press release today, it appears that the state has approved a license for Bitstamp, which is presently the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Europe.

The license was granted by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), making it the 19^th company to be approved for operation. Bitstamp Europe S.A. received a license as a payment institution back in 2016, which spanned across all of the 28 European Union countries.

The CEO of Bitstamp, Nejc Kodrič, expressed that the company has continually focused on the “proactive efforts” that promote the interests of investors and consumers on their platform. Kodrič sees the approval for the license as “another example of our commitment to be the most trusted digital currency exchange in the world.”

With the new BitLicense, Bitstamp is now able to offer trading for BTC, ETH, XRP, LTC, and BCH. If the company decides to adopt others in the future, they may be able to add those for customers in New York. Much of the work done by Bitstamp at this point has been an effort to connect traditional finance with cryptocurrency.

In order to maintain the license, there are certain requirements that Bitstamp must abide by to continue to keep their DFS BitLicense, which are primarily meant to protect consumers.

The customers of Bitstamp have the same protection, under these regulations, as consumers that use a traditional banking institution. However, there are a few upgrades to the former use of the Bitstamp platform, including the addition of the TRADExpress Trading System from Cinnober, a more efficient WebSocket solution, a mobile app, and the launch of a trading interface, which should happen later in April.