The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) announced early this week that it approved a virtual currency license for Seed Digital Commodities Market LLC (SCXM), and a virtual currency license and a money transmitter license for Zero Hash LLC. Both companies are subsidiaries of Seed CX Ltd. SCXM will serve as a matching engine and platform for cryptocurrency buyers and sellers. Zero Hash will function as the money transmitter for SCXM's trading activity. In the announcement, DFS noted it has now approved more than 20 virtual currency businesses. In Europe, Prasos Ltd., a Finland-based cryptocurrency brokerage and exchange firm, was granted a Payment Institution License, enabling it to offer specific fiat currency payment services and to have a customer fund account from a Finnish credit institution. Prasos is only the third cryptocurrency firm in Europe to receive this license.
The Japanese government has reportedly taken major steps to establish an international network for cryptocurrency payments, similar to the SWIFT network used by banks. A person purportedly familiar with the plan stated that it has already been proposed by Japan's Ministry of Finance and its national regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), and was approved for oversight by the Financial Action Task Force. In related news, the FSA recently announced that 110 cryptocurrency exchanges are in various stages of registration with the Japanese government. This marks a significant change – in 2018, the FSA approved zero such exchanges, and in 2017, approved only 16.
According to a recent report, as of mid-July, the Bitcoin network is moving over $3 billion daily on average – a 210% rise since April. The spike in volume is significantly higher as compared with other cryptocurrencies, such as Ether (which saw a 77% increase over the same time period) and XRP (up 61%).
For more information, please refer to the following links:
- DFS GRANTS LICENSES TO SEED CX COMPANIES TO PROVIDE VIRTUAL CURRENCY SERVICES FOR INSTITUTIONAL CUSTOMERS
- Crypto Broker Prasos Wins EU Payment Institution License
- Japan to lead development of SWIFT network for cryptocurrency – source
- 110 Crypto Exchanges Are Reportedly Trying to Get Licensed in Japan
- Bitcoin Network Is Moving $3 Billion Daily, Up 210% Since April
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