According to the announcement, the firm is authorized to support a total of six digital assets including Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Litecoin (LTC) and Stellar (XLM).
Specifically, SoFi has acquired two licenses – a virtual currency license (BitLicense) and a money transmitter license – that will allow SoFi Digital Assets to offer crypto trading services to its New York customers.
California-based financial firm SoFi has acquired a BitLicense from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), the regulator said in a statement on Dec. 3.
SoFi is now one of 24 crypto-related firms that have obtained a BitLicense since 2015, Bloomberg Law’s crypto reporter Lydia Beyoud tweeted the same day.
Client demand for solid regulations
NYDFS Superintendent Linda Lacewell noted the authority’s commitment to fostering innovation in New York’s crypto ecosystem, stating, «The Department’s approval of SoFi’s virtual currency and money transmitter licenses provides consumers with more choices in a continuously evolving global financial services marketplace.»
SoFi CEO Anthony Noto said that the decision to pursue a BitLicense was a response to client demand:
«Putting our members’ interests first is our top priority at SoFi … That includes both offering individuals the products they want, like cryptocurrency within SoFi Invest, as well as protecting them, through a solid regulatory framework like that created by the NYDFS.”
The news comes after the company launched zero-fee cryptocurrency trading to its platform SoFi Invest in September. SoFi, which has been in partnership with major American crypto exchange and wallet service Coinbase since February 2019, rolled out commission-free trading for BTC, ETH and LTC.
A BitLicense is a major business license for cryptocurrencies with a number of terms and conditions such as rules on operating with digital currencies, its control, administration, maintenance, storing and issuing, among others. Earlier this year, NYDFS granted a BitLicense to two subsidiaries of crypto derivatives firm Seed CX – Seed Digital Commodities Market LLC and Zero Hash LLC.
Bitcoin News Summary – August 19, 2019
New Zealand’s tax agency, the Inland Revenue Department, released a groundbreaking ruling, stating that salaries and wages may be legally paid in cryptocurrency. Income tax will be applied to such payments as per usual. To qualify, payments must be in regular amounts in cryptos which are immediately convertible to fiat.
Chinese crypto investor Dovey Wan tweeted regarding the activities of PlusToken, a Ponzi scheme with a total estimated value of about $3 billion. Wan claims the collapsed scheme is now liquidating its ill-gotten gains on multiple major crypto exchanges, which may be causing some downward price pressure.
Samsung released its new S-10 range of smartphones with preloaded support for cryptocurrencies like Ethereum. Notably absent from Samsung’s Blockchain Keystore app was Bitcoin support, but the company issued an update which adds this feature. The app stores private keys in the Secure File system to improve the security of Android mobile wallets.
Coinbase spent $55 million to purchase Xapo’s Custody service. This service is famous for cold-storing crypto assets in a high-security bunker under the Swiss Alps. It’s estimated that Coinbase now stores around 860,000 BTC – or roughly 5% of the total supply – thanks largely to this most recent acquisition. The company reports it now has $7 billion in assets under management.
And finally, after successful testing, major new institutional crypto exchange service, Bakkt, has finally secured regulatory approval. The exchange will launch on the 23rd of September.
