Robinhood Crypto Accessible for New York Residents
- The Silicon Valley-based company received their BitLicense and money transmitter license in January 2019.
- With the addition of New York, Robinhood Crypto is now operating in a total of 39 states.
The popular crypto and stock investing application Robinhood has began trading Bitcoin, Ethereum and many other cryptocurrencies in New York. The Silicon Valley-based company received their BitLicense and money transmitter license in January 2019 and started conducting business as of May 23.
As their press release states:
Currently, you can invest in seven cryptocurrencies on Robinhood Crypto: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, and Dogecoin. You can also track price movements and news for those and 10 additional cryptocurrencies.
When Robinhood announced that they are entering the crypto game, the public’s reaction was notable. Over 1 million users signed up within just a couple of days.
This whole fuss is due to the fact that New York regulations are a bit different than regulations in other states. According to NYDFS, all businesses that are “storing, holding, or maintaining custody or control of virtual currency on behalf of others” must apply for a BitLicense. This is why a number of crypto companies avoid doing business in the state.
ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorchees commented on this situation in 2018:
Here we are two miles from the Statue of Liberty and you cannot sell CryptoKitties in the state without that license.
With the addition of New York, Robinhood Crypto is now operating in a total of 39 states.
- An investigation from the New York Attorney General’s office has allegedly found that Gemini was aware of Genesis’ weak financial position, but still lied to investors.
- The lawsuit is looking to ban DCG, Genesis, and Gemini from the New York financial industry, seek restitutions for investments, and the return of “ill-gotten gains”.
Shutterstock
- The U.S. Department of Justice has seized close to $470 million in Robinhood stock, and an additional $20 million in U.S. currency, as part of its criminal case against Sam Bankman-Fried.
- Lawyers for SBF argued last week that the Robinhood shares were bought legitimately by SBF, using money borrowed from Alameda, and that he was relying on them to fund his defense.
- Lawyers for SBF are seeking to block debtors from taking control over $450 million in Robinhood shares, arguing that SBF was relying on his stake to fund his criminal defense.
- Another argument was that SBF had legitimately bought the shares using money borrowed from Alameda Research, one of the few loans that was well documented in the company.