if they do not fuck it up it is quite big news.
one of the most legimate critiques on bitcoin is the bottleneck problem, e.g. the point where the system interoperates with the fiat world.
this was up to this point valid, because you had to trust exchanges, which were run at best in a grey area of jurisdiction. these exchanges were almost solely responsible for the external price determination of bitcoin.
if they manage to reduce this problem they really strengthen the ecosystem of bitcoin.
Dead on man. Especially being a well funded New York exchange.
Let's hope they have lock down security.
Indeed. Toward that end, the bitcoin community should press them for:
1) Details about their hot/cold wallet management plans (to the extent that it's appropriate to divulge, obv)
2) A proof of reserve plan, in addition to whatever legacy audits BitLicensure requires
3) Multisig
4) Transparency (this is vague, but the more open they are in terms of addresses, dark/light pools, short/long interest, proof that they're not allowing naked shorting, etc, the better)