New York Mayor urges state to abandon ‘stifling’ BitLicense scheme

Gunnar Larson g at xny.io
Mon Feb 19 14:17:29 PST 2024


https://cointelegraph.com/news/new-york-mayor-urges-state-to-abandon-stifling-bitlicense-scheme


New York Mayor urges state to abandon ‘stifling’ BitLicense scheme
“We have to continue to be competitive,” the mayor said in a keynote
interview at a London crypto conference, where he suggested scrapping the
states’ BitLicensing requirement

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has hit out at his state’s BitLicensing
regime, claiming that it stifles innovation and economic growth.

In a closing keynote interview at the Crypto and Digital Assets Summit in
London on Wednesday, Adams suggested his state legislature counterparts in
Albany “listen to those who are in the industry” adding:

“It’s about thinking not only outside the box, but on this one, we may have
to destroy the box.”
Adams is a crypto advocate who ran for mayor, planning to turn New York
City into the “center of the cryptocurrency industry,” and took his first
three paychecks in Bitcoin (BTC). In the interview, he said
cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology are the “next chapters in the
future,” and the opportunity shouldn’t be squandered.

“New York State is the only state to require a license for crypto
companies. That’s a high barrier, and it just makes us less competitive. We
have to continue to be competitive.”
Since 2015, any “virtual currency business” wishing to offer services
within New York requires a BitLicense to do so. According to the New York
State Department of Financial Services (DFS), the license ensures that its
residents have a “well-regulated way to access the virtual currency
marketplace” and that the state remains at the “center of technological
innovation and forward-looking regulation.”

Many crypto firms moved from New York when the license was introduced, and
a recent call to remove regulatory barriers and ease restrictions focuses
on the license, which costs $5,000 in application fees along with unclear
capital requirements set by the DFS.

Related: What can Eric Adams do? The limits of turning New York City into a
crypto hub

In the state capital of Albany, lawmakers take an altogether stricter
regulatory approach to the cryptocurrency industry than Adams would. On
Tuesday, the New York State Assembly passed a bill to the Senate which
would place a two-year ban on all new proof-of-work (PoW) cryptocurrency
mining facilities using carbon energy.

On April 9, Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law a requirement that
BitLicensed firms must pay assessment fees to cover the cost of regulatory
operating expenses incurred by the DFS, placing possibly tens of thousands
of dollars a year extra in fees on firms.

“It is imperative that we work with the state lawmakers and regulators,”
Adams said “I’m really happy to see Governor Hochul is leaning into this
industry as we examine what are the bureaucratic issues that we need to
look at.”
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