New York regulator issues first bitcoin license to company

For the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), the goal of BitLicense is simply to have a framework in which digital currency companies can offer their services while protecting consumer interests.

Boston-based firm Circle Internet Financial Ltd. was granted the license – known, perhaps appropriately, as a “BitLicense” – by the New York Department of Financial Services.

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The firm – which counts Goldman Sachs among its investors – says that it still considers the BitLicense system “not perfect” but that “its requirements became clear and irrefutable prerequisites for serving and supporting everyone in New York”.

In conjunction with news, the company announced it will rebrand as currency-agnostic service Circle Pay. We want to help people everywhere around the globe, and that includes New Yorkers. Its primary use is for sending and receiving USA dollars. More currencies are expected in the coming months. The company won’t disclose exact transaction and volume data, but they are seeing “significant consumer demand” globally for its product, which now enables transactions in USA dollars and in bitcoin, she said.

The BitLicense remains controversial within the bitcoin community.

According to a blog post from the company today, Circle will now be able to serve customers in New York under the divisive regulatory framework, applications for which closed on 8th August. “We are trying to move expeditiously”, said Matthew Anderson, deputy superintendent for public affairs at the department, in an interview with WSJ.

New York City is also home to a growing number of bitcoin-related businesses, including the Winklevoss twin’s Gemeni, ItBit, CoinSetter, Symbiont, and Consensys.