Latest news with #BitLicense
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Fastex Expands U.S. Presence With Los Angeles Office
Fastex, a Dubai-based crypto exchange, is expanding its presence in the U.S., building out an office in Los Angeles, California. According to a Thursday announcement, Fastex will offer spot crypto trading services of tokens including bitcoin BTC, ether ETH, Cardano ADA, Solana SOL and its native utility token, Fasttoken FTN, to both retail and institutional investors in the U.S. Fastex's American expansion comes as the U.S. continues to overhaul its approach to crypto regulation under President Donald Trump's administration. Since Trump took office in January, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has retreated from the so-called regulation-by-enforcement approach to crypto it took under former Chair Gary Gensler, dropping a host of open investigations and closing ongoing litigation against crypto exchanges. In an interview with CoinDesk at Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas, Fastex's Chief Legal Officer and board member Vardan Khachatryan said that the SEC's softened stance toward crypto regulation played a major role in the exchange's decision to expand in the U.S., though he acknowledged that there is still no concrete legal framework for crypto in the country. 'There has been enough of a policy change, at least in terms of [how the U.S. government is] viewing things, that allowed us to go for this,' Khachatryan said. 'It's still kind of a risk, but it's a lower risk.' With a host of crypto companies returning to the U.S. due to the Trump Administration's crypto-friendly policies, cities like New York are hoping to attract companies expanding to the U.S. to set up shop in their jurisdictions. But, while Khachatryan said New York would be 'the right place to be in terms of headquarters,' he said that, for now, the prospect of obtaining a BitLicense — the notoriously difficult-to-obtain crypto license issued by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) — is prohibitive. 'I hope that things will change a bit,' Khachatryan said. New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who has branded himself the 'Bitcoin Mayor' in an attempt to lure crypto companies to New York, called for the end to the BitLicense regime during a speech at Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas on is currently headquartered in Dubai, in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Khachatryan said the exchange is currently working on obtaining a license from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). After expanding in the U.S., Khachatryan said the exchange also has its eyes on a Latin American expansion, starting with Brazil, followed by Argentina and Mexico. Inicia sesión para acceder a tu cartera de valores
The Verge
21-05-2025
- Business
- The Verge
Eric Adams and crypto whales demand that New York stop regulating crypto licenses
At a 'crypto summit' on Tuesday held by Eric Adams — the controversial mayor of New York City who recently escaped several federal corruption charges — crypto CEOs and investors made an open plea: please get rid of state crypto regulations so we can write our own and turn the Big Apple into a 'crypto sanctuary city.' This was, in fact, Adams's goal for the summit. 'I smell money, crypto, crypto, blockchain, and all the good things,' he told reporters at a press conference right before the private event began. As of now, crypto companies can only do business in New York state if they acquire a BitLicense from state financial regulators, which is notoriously difficult to obtain. According to Bitcoin Magazine, attendees, which included Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz and Nick Spanos, the founder of the New York City Bitcoin Center, frequently attacked the program, both in front of reporters and behind closed doors during the private event, arguing that it was preventing billions of dollars from entering the city. 'We're giving sanctuary to immigrants,' said Spanos. 'We can give sanctuary to crypto companies.' Though Adams can't directly change state law as mayor, he's previously called for the end of the Bitlicense program as well, and repeated his ask during the press conference. 'We need your help to lobby Albany to tell them there are serious and important things that could be done on our state level so we don't prevent the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry to grow in this city,' he told reporters. It's no surprise that Adams, who famously converted his first paychecks as mayor into bitcoin, is in agreement. Last September, federal prosecutors filed several corruption charges against Adams, accusing him of accepting illegal campaign contributions via bribery, wire fraud, and soliciting funds from a foreign national. After Donald Trump took office, however, the Department of Justice was ordered to drop its case, a move that compelled federal prosecutors to resign en masse. That background knowledge could not be overlooked during Adams's remarks, especially as he told the attendees that they, too, were victims of societal and government persecution. 'Look how they treated you. If we're honest in the conversation, you were audited,' he said. 'Many of you lost some of your profits. You were harassed. You were demonized. You were treated as though you were the enemy instead of the believers.' During the presser, Adams also announced that he was creating the city's first digital asset advisory council and would soon start appointing its chair and other members. It's safe to say that they would be drawn from the summit's attendees: the private, round-table event was deliberately modeled after the Trump White House's Digital Assets Summit in March. The Mayor's office claims that the attendees managed a combined $1 trillion in assets around the globe. Though the participants were not identified, Coinbase reported that they were primarily from unicorn startups and family offices, citing a spokesperson from a logistics firm involved in the summit.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Anchorage Digital CEO Calls 'Bullshit' on Report of DHS Probe
Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley denied reports that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is investigating the crypto bank, calling the reporting 'bullshit' during a panel discussion at Consensus 2025 in Toronto on Wednesday In an article published last month, business publication Barron's reported that DHS's money laundering and financial crimes unit, the El Dorado Task Force, was contacting former Anchorage employees to ask them about the company's practices and policies. Neither Anchorage nor DHS commented on the record for that story. Following the report, McCauley said his firm asked its lawyers to look into the allegations and found them to be untrue. 'There is no investigation into us, as is unambiguously clear at this point,' McCauley said. 'That article is what some might call bullshit. Happy to clear the air on that.' Anchorage Digital is widely considered one of the most regulatory compliant companies in the crypto space. In December, it obtained a highly-coveted and difficult-to-get BitLicense from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), one of the toughest regulators in the crypto industry. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
New York Post
28-04-2025
- Business
- New York Post
MoonPay to put down roots in NYC with new US headquarters — leading to predicted crypto real estate boom
Crypto continues to stake its claim in the financial capital of the world. MoonPay, the global leader in crypto payments, is opening a new 5,000-plus square-foot U.S. headquarters in SoHo, NYNext can exclusively report. With the move, the company becomes the latest digital currency firm to expand its presence in NYC. 4 MoonPay's new headquarters is a 5,000-plus square-foot space in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood. It is the company's largest U.S. office to date and will serve as a central hub for its growing U.S. workforce. MoonPay Advertisement 'As the crypto landscape continues to evolve, New York stands out as a beacon of opportunity that blends regulatory progress, a dynamic business environment and an unparalleled talent pool,' Keith A. Grossman, President of Enterprise at MoonPay and a lifelong New Yorker, told NY Next. The confluence of those factors — further emboldened by President Trump's deregulation efforts — means that even more digital asset companies are likely to set down roots in the city in the coming months and years. 'The crypto industry is playing a pivotal role in driving New York City's economic growth — serving as an engine for job creation, accelerating innovation, and attracting investment,' Grossman said. 'With over 130 crypto firms operating in the city, New York is further cemented as a global financial capital and a leading hub for fintech transformation.' Advertisement It's a marked shift from a decade ago. Crypto firms vehemently avoided New York after BitLicense — which imposed strict regulations on businesses' abilities to buy, sell, transmit and store crypto — went into effect in 2015. 4 The MoonPay app allows users to easily buy, sell and transfer cryptocurrencies and NFTs using traditional payment methods like credit cards, Apple Pay and bank transfers. @crownmax/X While the licenses were meant to protect consumers, many firms saw the framework as overly burdensome and headed to more hospitable cities. When MoonPay launched in 2019, its founders opted to base the company in Miami. Advertisement The tides in New York began to shift around the turn of the decade. Mayor Eric Adams, elected in 2021, has openly embraced crypto,saying he wanted to make NYC the 'center of bitcoins.' Though the BitLicense framework remains firm, his administration has focused the conversation on innovation and economic opportunity, rather than compliance and consumer protection. 4 MoonPay CEO Ivan Soto-Wright speaks during the FII Priority Summit in Miami Beach, Florida. Soto-Wright has played an active role in shaping crypto regulation, joining policymakers at the CFTC's Crypto CEO Forum and advocating in Congress for state-level innovation on stablecoins. AFP via Getty Images As a result, in the past several years, major firms including Coinbase, Gemini, Consensys, and Chainalysis have entered or expanded their New York City footprints. Advertisement 'It's an ideal hub for companies like MoonPay to scale and help shape the future of crypto innovation in the U.S,' Grossman said. 4 U.S. President Donald Trump (L) shakes hands with Paul Atkins, newly sworn-in as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in the Oval Office of the White House. Under Atkins, the SEC has dropped legal proceedings against major cryptocurrency platforms like Coinbase and Kraken that were initiated during former president Joe Biden's term. AFP via Getty Images Earlier this year, MoonPay CEO Ivan Soto-Wright joined executives from Coinbase, Ripple, and Circle at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Crypto CEO Forum in Washington, DC, to hash out the next chapter of federal crypto oversight. Then, in mid-April, Soto-Wright penned a letter to Congress supporting amendments to the STABLE and GENIUS Acts, backing state-level regulation for stablecoin issuers and warning against legislation that could sideline local innovators. Crypto markets have soared during Donald Trump's first months in office. This story is part of NYNext, an indispensable insider insight into the innovations, moonshots and political chess moves that matter most to NYC's power players (and those who aspire to be). After having its best year ever in 2024, MoonPay saw its transaction volume increase 123% and net revenue jump nearly 50% in the first quarter of 2025. Advertisement Grossman told NY Next, 'We could not be more thrilled to establish our U.S. headquarters in this great city as our country continues to establish more clarity surrounding regulatory, legislative, banking and accounting activity within the crypto ecosystem. Send NYNext a tip: nynextlydia@
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Block agrees to pay $40M New York penalty
This story was originally published on Payments Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Payments Dive newsletter. Payments technology company Block agreed to pay a $40 million civil monetary fine Thursday as part of an agreement to resolve claims brought by the New York State Department of Financial Services over lax oversight of its financial services. In particular, the state cited Block's Cash App peer-to-peer payments tool as not satisfying state requirements for anti-money laundering, bank secrecy and know-your-customer compliance programs, according to the action disclosed by the financial services department. Oakland, California-based Block, which is led by entrepreneur Jack Dorsey, operates in New York under the terms of money transmitter license and BitLicense it has in that state. The company also owns Square, a business that enables payments processing for merchants. In January, Block agreed to pay $255 million to federal and state regulators for deficiencies in its oversight of its peer-to-peer payments tool Cash App and to compensate users who became victims of fraud. Specifically, the company agreed at that time to pay the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau a $55 million penalty and to compensate victims with up to $120 million, according to a press release from the federal agency. It also included Block paying $80 million to resolve similar allegations brought against it by 48 states. As part of examinations performed by New York regulators for the period covering from April 2021 to September 2022, the state found that Block failed compliance program requirements on many fronts. As part of its own probe in 2022, Block discovered some 8,359 Cash App accounts 'linked to a Russian criminal network,' the order said. The state gave Block credit for quickly closing and 'denylisting' the accounts and starting up new controls in response. Those failures included, among other items, insufficient monitoring of transactions; a backlog of processing suspicious activity reports that created a 'high-risk environment vulnerable to exploitation by criminal actors;' and inadequate alerts for notification of digital wallet transactions that might be connected to terrorism. 'The policies, procedures, and processes at Block did not keep pace with the significant growth the Company experienced immediately prior to and during the period covered by the MT Exam and VC Exam, resulting in Block's inability to fully comply with its obligation to effectively monitor, and thereafter report, the transactions being conducted on its platforms for suspected money laundering and other illicit criminal activity,' New York's financial services department said in the consent order. Block said in a statement Thursday that it strives 'to be a leader in promoting safety across the financial system and upholding responsible business practices.' It added: 'We are committed to continued investment in safety, and full compliance with both the letter and the spirit of the law as our program continually evolves.' The department noted that Block had 2023 revenue of about $22 billion, and that its assets more than doubled between 2021 and 2023, jumping from $15 billion to $34 billion. It also pointed out that Cash App collects non-public information on about 54 million active accounts every month. 'It is critical that Block maintain a robust cybersecurity program to protect its own information systems and the consumer NPI stored in them,' the order said. 'Management oversight, as well as ensuring that all cybersecurity policies are sufficient and robust are critical components of the cybersecurity requirements contained in both the Virtual Currency Regulation and the Cybersecurity Regulations.' Other federal regulators had also been contemplating action against the company last year, according to a lawyer representing whistle-blowers who filed complaints against Block with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, as well as with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The whistle-blowers alleged that Cash App's user identity verification methods aren't sufficient to prevent fraudulent activity, NBC News reported last year. The New York order requires Block to hire an 'independent monitor,' selected by the state, to review the company's compliance programs and 'remediate any deficiencies' for at least a year, and perhaps longer. The monitor will report back to the state on its findings, the order said.
