Israeli-headquartered social trading company eToro is now licensed to offer its crypto services in the state of New York.
The multi-asset investment firm through its subsidiary eToro NY LLC received regulatory approval in the form of a BitLicense from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). Henceforth, eToro users in New York can access the company’s virtual portfolio and engage the social investing tools.
Additionally, the NYDFS approved a Money Transmitter license for eToro. Collectively, this increases the number of different platforms regulated under the BitLicense unit of the NYDFS to 33.
The trading platform secured all of these licenses in the heat of the United States authorities’ crackdown on crypto projects operating outside the confines of the standard regulations.
“Securing our BitLicense and Money Transmitter License in New York is a key milestone in the continued expansion of our US business and a testament to the commitment of our team in partnering with regulators and state entities,” said Yoni Assia, Co-founder, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of eToro, “eToro combines the community-led approach of social media with intuitive investing tools and prides itself on the simplicity of its user experience. On eToro users can learn, practice, invest, and share ideas.”
Lule Demmissie, CEO of eToro US said “the right time to start investing is always now and we are incredibly excited to bring eToro’s unique proposition to the residents of New York State.”
U.S Regulators Sues Non-Compliant Crypto Firms
Already, crypto firm Kraken and Binance-backed stablecoin operator Paxos have been accosted by the regulators in the U.S.
Paxos has been under the investigation of the NYDFS for certain regulatory issues, although it wasn’t clear which of its business brought it under the radar of the watchdog. A few days later, it was rumored that a possibility exist for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to indict Paxos for listing BUSD.
The SEC categorized this stablecoin as unregistered securities, thereby, qualifying Paxos’ offense as a violation of federal securities laws and customer protection laws.
Kraken was also charged by the SEC for offering its crypto-staking programs without completing the required registration process. As a form of settlement with the regulator, Kraken has been levied a $30 million fine in addition to suspending its crypto staking service In the U.S.
