New Office
Bitcoin Exchange Breaks Into US Market
The NYDFS has granted its first charter to a virtual currency company.
itBit Trust Company, a global commercial Bitcoin exchange, has become the first virtual currency firm to receive a charter from the New York State Department of Financial Services.
Following the Mt. Gox collapse, the NYDFS issued a public order in March 2014 initiating a process for accepting licensing applications for virtual currency exchanges under New York Banking Law.
“We have sought to move quickly but carefully to put in place rules of the road to protect consumers and provide greater regulatory certainty for virtual currency entrepreneurs,” said Benjamin M Lawsky, Superintendent of Financial Services. “The technology behind Bitcoin and other virtual currencies could ultimately hold real promise and it is critical that we set up appropriate rules of the road to help safeguard customer funds. Indeed, we believe that regulation will ultimately be important to the long-term health and development of the virtual currency industry.”
As a chartered limited purpose trust company with fiduciary powers, itBit - which also has a Singapore office - can now accept clients from all 50 US states.
itBit has raised $25 million in funding to "significantly scale its operations" as it begins to onboard US clients. Investors include RRE Ventures, Liberty City Ventures and Jay W Jordan II, as well as new participants including Raptor Capital Management chairman James Pallotta. The capital will be used to expand products and services, as well as hiring.
“Our mission at itBit has always been to create a trusted, institutional-grade exchange and regulatory compliance is an important pillar of that mission,” said itBit CEO and co-founder, Charles Cascarilla. “Regulatory approval from the NYDFS allows us to serve as a custodian for our clients’ assets and expand our services to US customers – the largest market of bitcoin traders in the world – and allows us to do so with the highest standard of care afforded by any Bitcoin company.”
Click here for a recent opinion piece on Bitcoin from April Rudin, CEO and founder of The Rudin Group.
