BitLicensed Companies Have To Pay Annual Assessment Fees In NY

BitLicensed companies will now have to pay annual assessment fees in New York which will bring companies on par with the banking and insurance institutions as a way for the state to recoup the operating expense costs and support in the industry so let’s read more in today’s latest blockchain news.

The cost of running a crypto business in New York is about to rise with the state government preparing to require companies to hold a BitLicnese and pay assessment fees to ensure that they are complying with the regulations. The rule was included in NY’s 2023 budget signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul which gave the state’s Department of Financial Services a new authority to collect supervisory costs from the licensed virtual currency businesses. The DFS Superintendent Adrienne Harris added that the fees will bring digital currency businesses and BitLicensed companies in line with the ones paid by institutions like banking and insurance companies:

“New York was the first to start licensing and supervising virtual currency companies, and we continue to attract more licensees and the most crypto startup funding of any state in the nation.”

 

The BitLicnesed companies were a first of their kind in the US and the applications fees for such permits are not set at $5000 and a subject to vague capital requirements determined by the New York DFS. The annual assessment fee amount that the DFS will charge crypto companies is uknown but the same fees for other financial institutions can cost thousands of dollars per year. The DFS stated that the fees are here to assist with paying the operating expenses and regualting companies that can empower the Department to build staff with the capacity and expertise to regulate and support the growing industry.

Businesses that accept crypto as payment, create software for the crypto space like a self-custody wallet, or give advice on crypto trading but are not subject to the BitLicnese and Corresponding fees. The regulation and licensing of crypto in the state came under heavy fire with billionaire Bill Ackman sharing his opinion about the New York failing policies and how they are making him leave the state. Ackman appealed to Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Hochul to address the rising concerns about regulation, saying that easing restrictions and removing the barriers can make New York a crypto center of innovation.

Mayor Adams ran with plans to make New York City the center of the crypto industry and took his first three paychecks in BTC.