With just weeks to go before he steps down, Benjamin M. Lawsky, New York’s top financial regulator, on Wednesday released rules for running a Bitcoin business in the state.In a speech at the BITS Emerging Payments Forum in Washington, Mr.Lawsky announced the final set of rules that govern virtual-currency businesses, concluding a nearly two-year effort to regulate the growing Bitcoin industry.Mr.Lawsky said that the final form of the so-called BitLicense would put in place crucial guidelines for protecting consumers and preventing money laundering.“We are excited about the potential digital currency holds for helping drive long-overdue changes in our ossified payments system,” he said.“We simply want to make sure that we put in place guardrails that protect consumers and root out illicit activity, without stifling beneficial innovation.” The new rules are among the last initiatives Mr.Lawsky will put in place before he leaves government this month to start his own legal and consulting firm.

In his four-year tenure, he has fashioned a name for himself as a tough overseer of the banking and insurance industries, cracking down on the likes of Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered.Such has been his reputation that The Village Voice once depicted him on its cover with a cowboy hat and sheriff’s badge, calling him “Johnny Lawsky.”His push to create rules governing virtual currencies may be among the most sweeping to date.New York is the first state to do so, seeking to create a replacement for money transmission guidelines that, Mr.Lawsky said, date to the Civil War.Bitcoin and other virtual currencies have grown in popularity both in the global technology community and on Wall Street.The Nasdaq OMX Group and the New York Stock Exchange have announced initiatives tied to Bitcoin.And last month, Goldman Sachs invested in Circle, a start-up that aims to use the technology underlying Bitcoin to improve consumer payments.Among the requirements outlined in the new regulations are the presence of a compliance officer and the maintenance of capital reserves determined by the New York State Department of Financial Services.Throughout the process, some Bitcoin advocates have questioned whether Mr.

Lawsky was overstepping his boundaries and proposing regulations that could throttle the nascent technology.Critics on the Internet site Reddit satirized the regulator by depicting him atop the Iron Throne from the HBO series “Game of Thrones” with the caption “Hail King Lawsky.”In his speech on Wednesday, Mr.litecoin alternativeLawsky said that the main goal had been to provide useful guidelines for virtual currency businesses rather than stifle the emerging technology altogether.bitcoin gokkenThe BitLicense, he said, applies only to financial operations and not to software developers, individual users or retailers who accept Bitcoin payments.“Financial regulators and policy makers need to recognize that when it comes to digital currencies and other new payments technology, the genie is already out of the bottle,” he said.Mr.bitcoin miner antminer

Lawsky added that regulators and proponents of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies needed to work together to make sure that new technologies continue to flourish while protecting consumers.Still, some within the virtual currency industry took a dim view of the new rules.ethereum mac miningCoin Center, a nonprofit advocacy group, took issue with anti-money-laundering provisions of the final guidelines, which it contended were too vague.“It’s a mixed bag, is the best that can be said about the BitLicense,” Jerry Brito, Coin Center’s executive director, said in a statement.bitcoin wechat group“Other states are already looking to the BitLicense as a model for their own frameworks.bitcoin value in dkkWe are working with them to ensure they do not repeat the mistakes made here.”1 bitcoin zł

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USD 67,703,213.19 67,381,960.01 BTC 14,216.57 14,184.68 ETH 352,193.68 351,369.61 ETC 40,297.12 39,595.31 ZEC 12,126.26 11,714.24 XMR 39,310.72 39,243.06 LTC 107,892.09 106,578.31 DASH 54,722.50 54,385.40 More market data Start trading within minutesDiscover the world's largest and most advanced bitcoin trading platform now.Open Account VIEW DEMOalternative assetsNew York Proposes Bitcoin RegulationsJacob DavidsonBitcoin may have just taken a huge step toward entering the financial mainstream.On Thursday, Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent for New York's Department of Financial Services, proposed new rules for virtual currency businesses.The "BitLicense" plan, which if approved would apply to all companies that store, control, buy, sell, transfer, or exchange Bitcoins (or other cryptocurrency), makes New York the first state to attempt virtual currency regulation."In

's Bitcoin discussion board, a popular gathering places for the currency's advocates."Theseregulations include provisions to help safeguard customer assets, protect against cyber hacking, and prevent the abuse of virtual currencies for illegal activity, such as money laundering."Theproposed rules won't take effect yet.First is a public comment period of 45 days, starting on July 23rd.After that, the department will revise the proposal and release it for another round of review.Regulation represents a turning point in Bitcoin's history.The currency is perhaps best known for not being subject to government oversight and has been championed (and vilified) for its freedom from official scrutiny.Bitcoin transactions are anonymous, providing a new level of privacy to online commerce.Unfortunately, this feature has also proven attractive to criminals.Detractors frequently cite the currency's widely publicized use as a means to sell drugs, launder money, and allegedly fund murder-for-hire.The failure of Mt.

Gox, one of Bitcoin's largest exchanges, following the theft of more than $450 million in virtual currency, also drew attention to Bitcoin's lack of consumer protections.In his Reddit post, Lawsky specifically referenced Mt.Gox as a reason why "setting up common sense rules of the road is vital to the long-term future of the virtual currency industry, as well as the safety and soundness of customer assets."NewYork's proposed regulations require digital currency companies operating within the state to record the identity of their customers, including their name and physical address.All Bitcoin transactions must be recorded, and companies would be required to inform regulators if they observe any activity involving Bitcoins worth $10,000 or more.The proposal also places a strong emphasis on protecting legitimate users of virtual currency.New York is seeking to require that Bitcoin businesses explain "all material risks" associated with Bitcoin use to their customers, as well as provide strong cybersecurity to shield their virtual vaults from hackers.

In order to ensure companies remain solvent, Bitcoin licensees would have to hold as much Bitcoin as they owe in some combination of virtual currency and actual dollars.Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, two of Bitcoin's largest investors, endorsed the new proposal.“We are pleased that Superintendent Lawsky and the Department of Financial Services have embraced bitcoin and digital assets and created a regulatory framework that protects consumers,” Cameron Winklevoss said in an email to the Wall Street Journal.“We look forward to New York State becoming the hub of this exciting new technology.”Gil Luria, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, also saw the regulations as beneficial for companies built around virtual currency.“Bitcoin businesses in the U.S.have been looking forward to being regulated,” Luria told the New York Times.“This is a very big important first step, but it’s not the ultimate step.”However, this excitement was not universally shared by the internet Bitcoin community.

Soon after posting a statement on Reddit, Lawsky was inundated with comments calling his proposal everything from misguided to fascist."These rules and regulations are so totalitarian it's almost hilarious," wrote one user.Others suggested New York's proposal would increase the value of Bitcoins not tied to a known identity or push major Bitcoin operations outside the United States.One particularly controversial aspect of the law appears to ban the creation of any new cryptocurrency by an unlicensed entity.This would not only put a stop to virtual currency innovation (other Bitcoin-like monies include Litecoin, Peercoin, and the mostly satirical Dogecoin) but could theoretically put Bitcoin's anonymous creator, known by the name Satoshi Nakamoto, in danger of prosecution if he failed to apply for a BitLicense.One major issue not yet settled is whether other states, or the federal government, will use this proposal as a model for their own regulations.Until some form of regulation is widely adopted, New York's effort will have a limited effect on Bitcoin business.