New York State Senator James Sanders Jr. has just proposed a bill to establish a cryptocurrency research group amid the state's reconsideration of regulations on digital assets as federal policies change significantly.

📊 The goal of the cryptocurrency research group

  • The research group will consist of 17 members, including representatives from the Department of Financial Services (#NYDFS ), environmental protection organizations, and economic experts from universities.

  • The main mission of the group is to study the impact of cryptocurrency on:

    • New York state's tax revenue.

    • The environment, especially energy consumption from cryptocurrency mining.

    • The transparency of the cryptocurrency market.

  • The group is expected to report results by the end of 2027, helping to build suitable cryptocurrency policies for New York – regarded as the "financial center of the world."

💸 Challenges from strict BitLicense regulations

  • #Newyork currently applies BitLicense – a very strict regulation since 2015, requiring cryptocurrency companies to have a license or special trust rights to operate.

  • This has caused many cryptocurrency companies to leave the New York market due to difficulties in complying with regulations.

  • Senator Sanders commented that New York is competing with other major financial centers such as London, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong to attract global financial investment.

🌎 Opportunities and challenges in technological innovation

  • Sanders emphasizes that blockchain not only impacts finance but also affects innovation, employment, economic growth, energy consumption, and environmental issues.

  • He calls for the need to supplement a suitable legal framework alongside BitLicense to help New York not miss the opportunity to develop digital technology.

🧐 Will it succeed or will it fail like before?

  • This is not the first time New York has proposed research on cryptocurrency:

    • In 2019, New York established a research group on cryptocurrency and blockchain, but it never operated.

    • By 2023, the bill to re-establish the research group was also rejected by Governor Kathy Hochul.

  • Jason Brett, President of the Value Technology Foundation, believes this proposal is unlikely to succeed because the Governor has previously rejected it and the state is concerned about unbudgeted costs of up to $35 million.

🔔 Conclusion

The proposal to establish a cryptocurrency research group in New York brings hope for a clearer and more flexible legal framework. However, with the history of failure of similar initiatives and high implementation costs, can New York really innovate this time or is it just a formal step? #anhbacong