BitLicense Creator Returns: Lawsky Is A Part Of $140M BTC Fund

Benjamin Lawsky, the BitLicense Creator returns and advised a new $140 million fund a few years after creating the controversial BitLicense. In our latest cryptocurrency news, we find out what the creator has in mind now.

The BitLicense creator leveraged his position as a lawmaker in order to serve the Bitcoin fund. The recent SEC filing revealed that Lawsky is now a part of the $140 million Bitcoin fund which is using the BitLicense. In the SEC filing, NYDIG Asset Advisory LLC is listed at the fund’s general partner and Benjamin Lawsky is listed as an elected manager of the advisory.

This is rich. The guy who invented the BitLicense is granted a BitLicense and launches a $140 million bitcoin fund. https://t.co/JlJgJMysKo

— Mike Dudas (@mdudas) May 12, 2020

Lawsky was accused of generating the consulting work for himself by launching controversial regulations for crypto asset companies before leaving his post at the New York Department of Financial Services. He said at the time:

 “The rules are very clear. If anyone… said ‘I want to hire you to help get a BitLicense from DFS,’ no can do.”

However, the close association with companies using BitLicense suggests otherwise. Lawsky helped created the controversial BitLicense aimed to regulate the New York Based crypto companies back in 2015. The regulation made it hard for many companies to operate in the state. Companies such as Kraken and Bitfinex, stopped providing services for New Yorkers due to the BitLicense. Two years after he created BitLicense, Lawsky started offering regulatory assistance via his company named the Lawsky Group where he advertised services to crypto startups.

The Attorney Pierre Ciric and Theo Chino have filed a lawsuit to eliminate BitLicense since its enactment and they are now going up the ladder and taking their case to the New York Court Of Appeals, the highest court in the New York State.

BitLicense was the first virtual currency regulatory framework which was enacted in the United States. The New York Department of Financial Services issued the regulatory framework and according to the document it requires that the businesses who transact virtual currencies must be licensed to operate with the New York customers. The companies and the individuals are now prohibited from engaging in activities that involve cryptocurrencies in New York or serving in the New York State residents without the license.