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One of Europe’s largest crypto exchanges, Bitstamp, has been issued New York’s virtual currency license allowing it to expand its US operations, CoinDesk reports.
The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) awarded Bitstamp with the 19th on Tuesday, allowing the exchange to offer Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and XRP trading pairs to New York residents. Bitstamp was among the first set of 22 applicants for the license back in 2015.
While the regulator has been slow in issuing its licenses, which have become known as “virtual currency licenses,” Bitstamp CEO Nejc Kodrič states that the process is “becoming more routine to them.” He added that “This year we are the [fifth] that was granted so I guess the pace is picking up.”
Other crypto firms to receive the license this year include prime brokerage Tagomi, stock trading app Robinhood, and Bitcoin ATM operators Cottonwood Vending and LibertyX.
Kodrič explained that in order to get this far, Bitstamp and the NYDFS discussed various aspects of the exchange’s operations:
“There were questions all around how the matching engine works, how we store crypto, how we [conduct] audits. The license is a set of rules and procedures you have to follow on a daily basis, so once you do that you can [receive a BitLicense].”
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