Ripple granted BitLicense

Posted On 14 Jun 2016

Tag: BitLicense, Chris Larsen, New York Department of Financial Services, NYDFS, ripple, XRP

On Monday, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced the approval of a BitLicense for Ripple to sell and hold custody of XRP, the Ripple Consensus Ledger’s native digital asset, for institutional investors and financial institutions in New York state.

Ripple said in a blog post its BitLicense is the first granted for an additional institutional use case for digital assets, whereas previous approvals were for consumer-oriented businesses.

Ripple co-founder and CEO Chris Larsen

“Earning the BitLicense is an incredible validation of the institutional use of digital assets by DFS, one of the most influential state regulators,” said Ripple co-founder and CEO Chris Larsen in an NYDFS statement. “With the BitLicense in hand, we look forward to working with our New York bank customers seeking to use XRP for liquidity and cost savings.”

The NYDFS said it has received 26 BitLicense applications so far, approving four digital currency firms for charters or licenses.

These firms include:

itBit: granted a charter under the New York Banking Law in May 2015.
Circle: approved for BitLicense in September 2015.
Gemini: awarded license to trade ether in May 2016.

The department added it recently rejected two applications for a virtual currency license. It sent application denial letters to Snapcard Inc. and OKLink PTE. LTD., ordering them to cease any New York operations.

Image via Press Center on Ripple’s website

About the Author

Katherine Fletcher is a writer and editor based in London, Ontario, Canada. With a graduate degree in journalism, Katherine spent more than five years curating news on Canadian higher education for a marketing consultancy. Her interest in reporting on Bitcoin stems from her belief that digital currency is, and will continue to be, a disruptor in how we conceive modern currency.