The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) on Thursday announced that it had granted a virtual currency license to Xapo and approved Paxos Trust Company to provide exchange and custody services for four more cryptocurrencies, including Ether, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Stellar Lumens. Paxos, formerly known as itBit Trust Company and a subsidiary of Kabompo Holdings, already provides trading services for Bitcoin on its itBit platform.
DFS’s Superintendent Maria T. Vullo stated:
“Today’s actions represent New York’s continued commitment to creating a thriving, global fintech marketplace. Through strong and thoughtful regulatory oversight by DFS, consumers and the virtual currency market alike will continue to benefit.”
The agency has thoroughly reviewed Xapo’s application to check the company’s AML, anti-fraud, consumer protection, cybersecurity, and capitalization policies. Xapo plans to expand its Bitcoin wallet and vault services, the latter being a method to store Bitcoin in more secure conditions. The license offered by DFS will undergo ongoing supervision.
Xapo President Ted Rogers said that he was pleased with the approval of the company’s BitLicense application.
Elsewhere, DFS also granted a virtual currency charter in May 2015 to itBit, which recently renamed to Paxos and which runs an exchange with its former name, to provide Bitcoin services, including buying, selling, storing, sending, and receiving.
Today, DFS authorized Paxos to expand its service offering to include Ether, Litecoin, Stellar Lumens and Bitcoin Cash. On Thursday, DFS gave the green light to Paxos for similar services for Ether, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Stellar Lumens.
Paxos CEO Chad Cascarilla said:
“This is an important milestone for itBit as we create a broader platform for crypto asset investors. We are committed to the growth and evolution of this ecosystem and DFS approval allows us to offer more trading and custody services across a wider range of crypto assets.”
“Regulatory oversight and security have always been at the forefront of building our platform. We are thrilled to be able to offer these new services to our customers,” he added.
Besides Xapo and Paxos, DFS has previously approved other six companies for virtual currency charters or licenses, including to Coinbase, Genesis Global Trading., bitFlyer USA, XRP II and Circle Internet Financial, and Gemini.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest
