ItBit Bags First Bitcoin Exchange Charter from New York Regulators

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ItBit, a bitcoin exchange that operates in Singapore as well as New York, became the first recipient of a trust company charter from the Department of Financial Services (DFS) of New York State, indicating that the cryptocurrency has moved a step towards regulation.

In addition, ItBit’s board of directors has gotten bigger and the exchanged has raised $25 million from not only existing, but also new investors. Charles Cascarilla, the CEO and co-founder of the exchange, says that the trust charter enables ItBit “to be a custodian for its client’s funds.”

According to Cascarilla, ItBit had to work for nearly 15 months and submit an application of over 1,000 pages in order to get its license, which Cascarilla calls “extremely in-depth, extremely time-consuming and not easy to do.”

The Only US Regulated Bitcoin Exchange

Ever since the US Treasury imposed a fine of $700k on Ripple Labs for offering financial services without a license, getting the approval of regulatory bodies has become very important for money service companies. ItBit did not want to take any chances. As a result, it is now the only supervised and US-chartered bitcoin exchange, which complies with not only US laws, but also Singapore laws.

ItBit has overcome a number of hurdles to get regulatory approval, winning the support of Bill Bradley, the former senator; Sheila Bair, the former chair of the FDIC; and Robert Herz, who formerly chaired the financial accounting services board. In addition, prominent companies such as Liberty City Ventures and RRE Ventures, along with individual investors such as Jay W. Jordan II have joined previous investors such as James Pallotta, the chair of Raptor Capital Management.

Bitcoin’s Future Brightens

Bill Bradely, who is on the ItBit board, is sure about the bright future of bitcoin. He stated: “Bitcoin has the potential to transform the world of finance as we know it today. ItBit can truly become the backbone of the entire Bitcoin ecosystem and help elevate its importance in finance, commerce, and building new economies.”

ItBit’s three new directors have been associated with the exchange for a long time. Their addition to the board has made the company politically and financially significant. Bradley had been a senator of New Jersey and the member of the Senate Finance Committee from 1979 – 97. Expressing his opinion about bitcoin, he said: “Bitcoin has the potential to transform the world of finance as we know it today.”

Bair was the chair of the FDIC from 2006 – 11, after which she joined the board of directors of several prominent companies, including Banco Santander, a Spanish bank.

About ItBit

ItBit, an international bitcoin exchange, provides a platform for the purchase and sale of bitcoins. Since ItBit gives top priority to compliance, it has launched the ItBit Trust Company, which is supervised by the DFS of New York State. This makes ItBit the first bitcoin exchange and the only one that can legally accept US customers. ItBit combines the expertise of Wall Street with the innovation of Silicon Valley to develop next-gen bitcoin services and products.