itBit today reaffirms its intention to meet full regulatory compliance with the New York Department of Financial Services BitLicense.
“We applaud the thoughtful and transparent approach that Benjamin Lawsky and the NY DFS have taken in examining consumer protection issues surrounding virtual currency and related businesses. We believe this framework is important for the ecosystem to operate in a compliant and trustworthy way, and shows the DFS’ ongoing dedication to improving the stability of the industry,” said itBit CEO Charles Cascarilla. “We take every possible measure to ensure that itBit protects consumers, prevents abuse and provides security. The proposed BitLicense aligns with our current standards and practices, and we have every intention to be in compliance with the final guidelines.”
The proposed measures can be read in entirety at: http://www.dfs.ny.gov/about/press2014/pr1407171-vc.pdf
The regulations will be formally published in the July 23, 2014 edition of the New York State Register – which starts a 45-day public comment period. After that public comment period, the rules are subject to additional review and revision based on that public feedback before DFS finalizes them.
Ben Lawsky the Superintendent of Financial Services at the New York State Department of Financial Services stated the following regarding the new regulatory framework,
In developing this regulatory framework, we have sought to strike an appropriate balance that helps protect consumers and root out illegal activity – without stifling beneficial innovation. These regulations 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.
We recognize that not everyone in the virtual currency community will be pleased about the prospect of a new regulatory framework. Ultimately, though, we believe that 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. (We think the situation at Mt. Gox, for example, made that very clear.) Moreover, given that states have specific regulatory responsibilities in this area, we also have a legal obligation to move forward on this framework.
By the same token, we also recognize that – like any part of the financial industry – no regulatory framework can ever completely eliminate the risks customers face when dealing with financial firms. As such, we’ve included a strong set of consumer disclosures to help make sure customers have the information they need to make the choices that are best for them.
itBit offers a secure global currency exchange for trading fiat currency with digital currency like Bitcoin. The exchange provides investors with high liquidity and advanced security, storing clients’ bitcoin offline in cold storage. itBit employs extensive know-your-customer and additional monitoring systems to ensure the highest compliance standards, similar to international banks.
The New York-based bitcoin exchange was founded by CEO Charles Cascarilla. The company is venture-backed by RRE Ventures, Canaan Partners, Liberty City Ventures and angel investors including Jay W. Jordan II and Ben Davenport.
