{"id":17904,"date":"2025-05-20T23:54:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T23:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/20\/regulator-new-york-taking-strong-steps-in-bid-to-become-worlds-crypto-capital\/"},"modified":"2025-05-20T23:54:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T23:54:13","slug":"regulator-new-york-taking-strong-steps-in-bid-to-become-worlds-crypto-capital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/20\/regulator-new-york-taking-strong-steps-in-bid-to-become-worlds-crypto-capital\/","title":{"rendered":"Regulator: New York Taking Strong Steps in Bid to Become World\u2019s \u201cCrypto Capital\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

In the absence of unified federal legislation on cryptocurrencies, New York is establishing its own comprehensive regulations for the sector as it looks to become the world\u2019s crypto capital. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Adrienne Harris, superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS), is playing a key role in this endeavor, and she says her approach is grounded in experience, not ideology. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have never been a believer that you should have ideology in financial regulation,\u201d Harris said during a discussion at last week\u2019s Consensus conference, held from May 14 to 16 in Toronto.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really am a firm believer that you can protect consumers and markets, look after the safety and soundness of companies and be good for business all at the same time. And we really seek to prove that out every day at DFS.\u201d<\/p>\n

Appointed in 2021, Harris described her stints in big law, the US Department of the Treasury, the Obama White House, Silicon Valley and academia. Her influence as a regulator has arguably been most deeply felt in crypto, where New York\u2019s licensing regime \u2014 particularly its much-discussed BitLicense \u2014 has served as both a gatekeeper and a benchmark.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is unnecessarily tough, and then there\u2019s necessarily tough,\u201d Harris explained. \u201cI think prior to me and my team coming in, things were probably unnecessarily tough \u2026 the team was under-resourced. There were maybe 30 people in the crypto unit. Now we have 60 people that are dedicated to virtual currency every day, all day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under Harris\u2019 leadership, the DFS has implemented an applications manual, instituted pre-application meetings and issued nine pieces of regulatory guidance. These reforms aim to demystify a process long criticized as opaque. <\/p>\n

And while the BitLicense remains difficult to obtain, Harris believes the outcome justifies the rigor: \u201cFTX, Voyager and Celsius didn\u2019t pass our test, and therefore couldn\u2019t do business in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

This tough-but-fair regulatory stance has elevated New York\u2019s position not only domestically, but also globally. <\/p>\n

Even with various international counterparts, Harris told the Consensus audience that New York has become \u201cthe gold standard\u201d in how virtual currencies are regulated. That international recognition is becoming increasingly formalized through initiatives like the DFS\u2019 transatlantic regulatory exchange program with the Bank of England. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve sent us some senior staff. We\u2019ve sent them some senior staff. It was really an arm-wrestling match to see who was going to get to move to London for six months to a year,\u201d Harris joked. The program, which focuses on payments and cryptocurrencies, is already expanding to include other regulators in Europe and Asia.<\/p>\n

Closer to home, Harris said the DFS is also working closely with Congress on stablecoin legislation. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere isn\u2019t a version of any of those bills \u2014 be it House or Senate, Rs or Ds \u2014 that don\u2019t come to me and to the team to say, \u2018Give us your feedback, give us your technical assistance, your insights,\u2019\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

The DFS has already pioneered its own stablecoin guidelines, which require that any licensed stablecoin in New York be fully backed by a reserve of assets. That initiative, like much of DFS\u2019 crypto framework, has been driven by a regulatory unit that Harris described as perhaps the largest of its kind anywhere in the world. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have folks that came from the (US Federal Reserve), we have cryptographers, we have financial crime experts \u2026 we have some real sort of crypto bros on the team. So it\u2019s a great mix of expertise.\u201d <\/p>\n

Despite building out that workforce to 60 full-time crypto regulators, Harris admitted that resource constraints remain. <\/p>\n

She noted that the DFS has hired more than 600 people across the department during her tenure and continues to recruit \u2014 especially amid talent shifts from federal agencies.<\/p>\n

The result of all this work, Harris argued, is a regulatory environment that fosters innovation rather than hinders it. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt used to be that people would say the regulations stifled that ecosystem, that innovation. But what we\u2019ve learned over time is that that clarity, that certainty, that transparency really provides a fertile ground for that innovation,\u2019 she said. <\/p>\n

That sentiment is reflected in how regulated firms market themselves abroad. \u201cOur regulated crypto companies market the fact that they are regulated by DFS,\u201d Harris continued. \u201cWhen they go overseas, they are telling those other regulators, \u2018We have a license from DFS.\u2019 And it goes a long way toward growing the ecosystem in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also credited state leadership for supporting a dual agenda of consumer protection and economic development, citing New York Governor Kathy Hochul\u2019s \u2018steadfast commitment\u2019 to making sure New York is a hub for responsible innovation. This growth aligns with Mayor Eric Adams\u2019 ambition to make New York City the crypto capital not just of the US, but also the world \u2014 an aspiration Harris sees as within reach, if not already reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we think about crypto \u2014 having the fastest-growing sector in New York \u2014 put that together with the fact that New York is really the financial capital of the world. That is an environment, I think, perfect for the crypto ecosystem.\u201d <\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Harris said the DFS will continue on its current path, even as it hopes for stronger federal engagement. <\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully we have federal legislation done, and some of those federal rules will be coming into place,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re thinking about, of course, (artificial intelligence) and crypto. We\u2019re thinking about deepfakes and market manipulation and crypto, and how those things overlap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on investingnews.com<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the absence of unified federal legislation on cryptocurrencies, New York is establishing its own comprehensive regulations for the sector as it looks to become the world\u2019s crypto capital. Adrienne Harris, superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS), is playing a key role in this endeavor, and she says her approach is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":17905,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17904\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}