Benjamin Lawsky, the superintendent of financial services for the state of New York, today discussed some of the changes, which he said is more of a clarification, to the rules for the proposed set of regulations that make up the controversial BitLicense plan.
In his speech, given at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York, Lawsky started off by praising Bitcoin's ability to reduce and remove identity fraud, referencing his own concerns about using credit cards when shopping online as well as the potential for it to revolutionise remittances across the globe.
We will not and do not intend to regulate software, software developers or individual users claimed Lawsky, saying "it's not true" that these people will require a BitLicence.
"We are regulators of financial intermediaries, we are not regulating software development, period."
Lawsky continued on, saying the NYDFS had received comments during the feedback period that banks would not need to adhere to the regulations, which he said would not be fair to others and is thankfully, not true. "The banks would in fact need to comply with any requirements imposed on virtual currencies."
"Mining per-say, will not be regulated" stated Lawsky, though he went on to explain that for mining services which also host wallets or exchange virtual currencies, a licence may be required.
Last on his list of clarifications, he addressed compliance costs for startups and noted that it's a difficult issue and that they are wrestling with it but that startups must play by the rules.
"This will require a creative solution and we're working through it."
So, my business is in Iowa, will these clowns require me to get a BitLicense to deal with customers in New York?
Maybe they try? Or you could just admit New York isn't what it used to be and ignore it.