New York Looking To Regulate Bitcoin

There is news out today that New York is looking to regulate Bitcoin, there is a focus on protecting the consumer, while also making sure that cybersecurity is in place along with anti money laundering compliance.

Mary Beth Quirk wrote on The Consumerist:

New York has taken a step in the direction of keeping consumers’ safe with a proposed plan that sets up a regulatory framework for any business dealing with bitcoins.

The New York Department of Financial Services announced a draft for its proposed plan [PDF] today for any bitcoin or virtual currency businesses operating in the state, dubbing it the “BitLicense” plan.

That draft includes consumer protection, anti-money laundering compliance and cybersecurity rules, all of which will be up for a public commenting period of 45 days as of July 23.

On the consumer front, the BitLicense plan has rules covering the safeguarding of consumer assets, a requirement for businesses to issue consumers virtual currency receipts and a stipulation that businesses must establish and maintain written consumer complaint policies in order to “resolve consumer complaints in a fair and timely manner.”

Each company also has to provide notice to consumers that they can bring complaints to the DFS’ attention if they’d like the department to look into an issue further.