Internet entrepreneurs Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss has filed an application to register their upcoming Bitcoin exchange in New York.
According to a Reuters report, Gemini, as the said exchange is titled, is seeking the status of being called a “chartered trust company”. Under New York’s current banking laws, a company that has obtained the said status does not need a separate license to operate as a money transmitter. These companies are further allowed to expand its operations in some other US states, such as California, without needing to apply for a special money transmission permit.
A chartered trust company, as New York Law School Professor, Professor Houman B Shadab, further explained, is a company that has powers to act like banks. It can take deposits, allow withdrawals, make loans and can further act as an agent for governmental bodies. Before Gemini, another Bitcoin exchange itBit had also applied for the credentials of banking law charter. It successfully received them back in May, but was disallowed to make loans or take deposits.
Winklevoss’s Twins, therefore, begin their venture on a right node. If the said chartered trust status is allowed, they would be able to expand their services throughout the US, while building confidence in the digital currency ecosystem. The steps taken by them, as well as the itBit owners, certainly looks like the best way to expand the Bitcoin infrastructure nationally, and further attract partnerships with the traditional banking sectors.
Overall, it appears as a good news for the entire digital currency sector, for their communities will now be able to enjoy a reliable, and legal, protection by law while storing their funds in the aforementioned Bitcoin companies. Ever since the Mt. Gox scandal, the voice for regulated Bitcoin firms have amplified anyways.
