NYDFS Extends BitLicense Regulation Commenting Period 45 Days

Since the release of the BitLicense regulations from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), one of the most common complaints has been the lack of time the public has to comment on them (in order to propose revisions, and the like).

Chamber of Digital Commerce President Perianne Boring even called the 45-day period “severely inadequate” — a sentiment echoed a good number of times now by others.

Thankfully for the community, the NYDFS has heard the complaint loud and clear. As of Thursday, the Department’s Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky announced that the commenting period would be extended another 45 days to October 21st.

The time may be extended depending on whether or not the Department amends the initial proposal.

A statement on the NYDFS official website reads:

[blockquote style=”2″]There has been a significant amount of public interest in and commentary on DFS’ proposed regulatory framework for virtual currency firms. A number of groups and individuals have also requested additional time to study the proposal given that it is the first of its kind and could potentially serve as a model for other jurisdictions. As such, DFS has doubled the length of the initial comment period for its proposed Virtual Currency regulatory framework to 90 days from 45 days. Comments will now be due October 21, 2014. (There would also be an additional comment period beyond that if DFS makes material changes to its initial proposal, which would provide further time for public feedback.)[/blockquote]

And it looks like that just may be the case.

Superintendent Lawsky took to Twitter to note that the Department has “been getting great comments” on the proposal, and they are working on revisions at this time.

“Extension makes sense,” Lawsky wrote on Twitter.

Certainly, a sense of achievement is being emitted from the community. One step down, but many more to go in this ongoing endeavor to properly regulate bitcoin.