my public comment
"scrap the bitlicense"
Topic: Bitcoin license moves step closer with N.Y. bank draft (Read 1070 times)
Without the exemptions that's "everyone who uses bitcoin needs a license" - since it's not just if your thing is based in the state, it's if you're involving a new york resident at all.
How does that square with court rulings saying that state law only applies to businesses with a physical presence in the state? If New York can't make out of state businesses collect sales tax, how can it make them get a license?
Here's the draft (40 pages long):
http://www.dfs.ny.gov/about/press2014/pr1407171-vc.pdf
It's just a proposal, and it's pretty bad imho. Hopefully they'll get it right.
Also, an interesting comment from reddit:
http://www.dfs.ny.gov/about/press2014/pr1407171-vc.pdf
It's just a proposal, and it's pretty bad imho. Hopefully they'll get it right.
Also, an interesting comment from reddit:
Quote
gregwilkinson 24 points 19 hours ago
My guess is that this proposal is bullshit on purpose. It's meant to go too far, so that when Lawsky pulls back to a slightly shitty version of it, we will think we won. The whole time his revised regulatory framework will be the one he intended all along.
My guess is that this proposal is bullshit on purpose. It's meant to go too far, so that when Lawsky pulls back to a slightly shitty version of it, we will think we won. The whole time his revised regulatory framework will be the one he intended all along.
Most sites won't have to stop servicing people from New York State because it specifically exempts merchants and consumers from having to be licensed. It's targeted at Exchanges, Wallet Services, et cetera.
The biggest problem here is for Mining Pools.
Sec 200.1
(n) Virtual Currency Business Activity means the conduct of any one of the following types of activities
involving New York or a New York Resident:
(1) receiving Virtual Currency for transmission or transmitting the same;
Without the exemptions that's "everyone who uses bitcoin needs a license" - since it's not just if your thing is based in the state, it's if you're involving a new york resident at all.
That's far too broad. It needs to be more targeted. Rally the troops - we need to submit comment when it opens for comment on the 23rd
The biggest problem here is for Mining Pools.
Sec 200.1
(n) Virtual Currency Business Activity means the conduct of any one of the following types of activities
involving New York or a New York Resident:
(1) receiving Virtual Currency for transmission or transmitting the same;
Without the exemptions that's "everyone who uses bitcoin needs a license" - since it's not just if your thing is based in the state, it's if you're involving a new york resident at all.
That's far too broad. It needs to be more targeted. Rally the troops - we need to submit comment when it opens for comment on the 23rd
This is pretty big I think. We'll see what happens.
I wonder if sites will stop servicing people from New York State?
I wonder if sites will stop servicing people from New York State?
well what do you expect coming from a state that makes it nearly illegal to have more than a weeks supply of food in your house, fights tooth and nail against the second amendment, and wants to control the size of soft drinks people are allowed to buy ?? obviously don't have your bitcoin exchange business based in new york. do like the gun industry and relocate.
I think this BitLicense is applicable to NY Bitcoin businesses only. It neither applies to BitStamp, nor to LocalBitcoins 
p.s. I think this will attract regulated companies like Western Union or Amazon accepting Bitcoin in general.
p.s. I think this will attract regulated companies like Western Union or Amazon accepting Bitcoin in general.
Unfortunately you're utterly wrong.
Erik sums it up nicely:
http://moneyandstate.com/reflections-right-privacy-response-nydfs-bitcoin-proposal/
People such as Lawsky parasitize on the taxpayer to enforce toxic "legislation" aiming to increase their access to nutrients in order to grow and replicate their species.
I think this BitLicense is applicable to NY Bitcoin businesses only. It neither applies to BitStamp, nor to LocalBitcoins
p.s. I think this will attract regulated companies like Western Union or Amazon accepting Bitcoin in general.
p.s. I think this will attract regulated companies like Western Union or Amazon accepting Bitcoin in general.
For every exchange, each firm must record and keep the identity and physical addresses of the parties involved.
Glad we have BTC-E !!
Great news? Isnt this exactly what bitcoin is supposed to not be? 
This is not good news. Fuck the fame, we want anonymity
This is not good news. Fuck the fame, we want anonymity Buy yourself some Monero like some other from these community
. 
This may be what US citizen's need to get involved in the universal bitcoin protocol.
However bitcoin network has far more use then only currency and value transactions.
We may see the technology be used as a larger scale platform. We may see that having 1BTC from a specific address used to permit one country GDP worth of transactions between country's. It may take a reward halving or two but it will be obvious when it happens.
One thing is for certain, this technology will drive innovation forward for all participants.
However bitcoin network has far more use then only currency and value transactions.
We may see the technology be used as a larger scale platform. We may see that having 1BTC from a specific address used to permit one country GDP worth of transactions between country's. It may take a reward halving or two but it will be obvious when it happens.
One thing is for certain, this technology will drive innovation forward for all participants.
Great news? Isnt this exactly what bitcoin is supposed to not be? This is not good news. Fuck the fame, we want anonymity
This is not good news. Fuck the fame, we want anonymity
Thats really great news for everyone
The New York Department of Financial Services moved a step toward creating a bitcoin license that’s seen as helping move the digital currency into mainstream use. And it went right to core users of bitcoin, posting a copy of the regulation on the website Reddit.
The bank regulator issued a draft of its “BitLicense” regulatory framework for New York virtual currency businesses. There will be a 45-day public comment period.
“We have sought to strike an appropriate balance that helps protect consumers and root out illegal activity – without stifling beneficial innovation,” said Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of financial services, in a statement.
As the hub of U.S. financial activity, New York has been one of the most aggressive states in developing a legal framework for using bitcoin, the digital currency that’s drawn intense interest and speculation — in part because it exists largely outside the traditional financial system and its regulatory controls.
The ability to exchange cash for bitcoin, and keep those transactions anonymous, has made the currency attractive to criminals. The online illegal-drug retailer Silk Road, which was shut down by federal authorities last year, had a huge stash of bitcoin. The government also shut down the online money transfer business Liberty Reserve, charging it with money-laundering and other activities.
But there’s a coterie of business leaders, particularly hailing from technology, who view bitcoin as an early game-changing technology that will become as widely used as the Internet. Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen has pointed out that skeptics of the early Internet also knocked the early Web for its association with crime and porn.
That’s where a license from a banking regulator comes in. To leapfrog from a niche product to mainstream — say one known by the Web denizens that populate Reddit to one used by folks that never heard of Reddit — entrepreneurs say there needs to be a clear legal and technological infrastructure.
The banking regulator is laying out just that. The rules.
Among them: Each licensee must maintain a bond or trust account in U.S. dollars for the benefit of its customers.
A licensee will have to have policies and procedures to handle consumer complaints — a requirement that seems squarely aimed at preventing the situation customers of bankrupt bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox found themselves in.
For every exchange, each firm must record and keep the identity and physical addresses of the parties involved.
In the grown-up version of bitcoin, users won’t really be able to exist in the shadows.
SOURCE : http://americasmarkets.usatoday.com/2014/07/17/bitcoin-license-moves-step-closer-with-n-y-bank-draft/
The bank regulator issued a draft of its “BitLicense” regulatory framework for New York virtual currency businesses. There will be a 45-day public comment period.
“We have sought to strike an appropriate balance that helps protect consumers and root out illegal activity – without stifling beneficial innovation,” said Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of financial services, in a statement.
As the hub of U.S. financial activity, New York has been one of the most aggressive states in developing a legal framework for using bitcoin, the digital currency that’s drawn intense interest and speculation — in part because it exists largely outside the traditional financial system and its regulatory controls.
The ability to exchange cash for bitcoin, and keep those transactions anonymous, has made the currency attractive to criminals. The online illegal-drug retailer Silk Road, which was shut down by federal authorities last year, had a huge stash of bitcoin. The government also shut down the online money transfer business Liberty Reserve, charging it with money-laundering and other activities.
But there’s a coterie of business leaders, particularly hailing from technology, who view bitcoin as an early game-changing technology that will become as widely used as the Internet. Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen has pointed out that skeptics of the early Internet also knocked the early Web for its association with crime and porn.
That’s where a license from a banking regulator comes in. To leapfrog from a niche product to mainstream — say one known by the Web denizens that populate Reddit to one used by folks that never heard of Reddit — entrepreneurs say there needs to be a clear legal and technological infrastructure.
The banking regulator is laying out just that. The rules.
Among them: Each licensee must maintain a bond or trust account in U.S. dollars for the benefit of its customers.
A licensee will have to have policies and procedures to handle consumer complaints — a requirement that seems squarely aimed at preventing the situation customers of bankrupt bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox found themselves in.
For every exchange, each firm must record and keep the identity and physical addresses of the parties involved.
In the grown-up version of bitcoin, users won’t really be able to exist in the shadows.
SOURCE : http://americasmarkets.usatoday.com/2014/07/17/bitcoin-license-moves-step-closer-with-n-y-bank-draft/
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