Home > Today’s Crypto News
bitcoin
bitcoin

$82951.790245 USD

-0.70%

ethereum
ethereum

$1791.465527 USD

-1.83%

tether
tether

$0.999717 USD

-0.01%

xrp
xrp

$2.055970 USD

0.14%

bnb
bnb

$593.238692 USD

-1.32%

usd-coin
usd-coin

$1.000032 USD

0.02%

solana
solana

$115.381354 USD

-4.13%

dogecoin
dogecoin

$0.161732 USD

-2.67%

cardano
cardano

$0.649656 USD

-0.44%

tron
tron

$0.239261 USD

1.04%

unus-sed-leo
unus-sed-leo

$9.561241 USD

1.74%

toncoin
toncoin

$3.530703 USD

-6.73%

chainlink
chainlink

$12.739766 USD

-3.87%

stellar
stellar

$0.259841 USD

-2.48%

avalanche
avalanche

$18.093210 USD

-3.52%

BitLicense

What Is a BitLicense?

Coming into effect in August 2015, the BitLicense was the first regulatory regime targeted at cryptocurrency businesses in the U.S.

It regulates a broad range of crypto activities — including the transmission of cryptocurrency, the provision of exchange services, and the issuance of digital assets. 

A BitLicense is required by any resident of New York carrying out regulated cryptocurrency activities, or any non-resident person or other entity that is engaged in those activities with people who do live in New York. Crucially, though, individuals who are making or receiving crypto payments are exempt.BitLicense was extremely controversial upon launch, and remains the subject of widespread ire within the crypto community. 

Many crypto businesses insist that the regime places unfairly onerous restrictions and obligations on them — and that the cost of applying for the BitLicense (estimated to run to at least $100,000) is punitive. 

When the regulations came into force in 2015, at least 10 crypto-related businesses announced that they would cease all trading activities in New York as a result. Indeed, only a handful of companies have successfully received BitLicenses since its launch.Regardless of industry reception, the BitLicense is a key part of a more general effort on the part of global lawmakers to regulate crypto — a sector that is resistant to state interference by nature. 

However, as recent events show — such as the backlash that Facebook’s Libra project received from central banks — tighter oversight of cryptocurrencies and decentralized technology more generally seems inevitable.