In the absence of an American federal framework, New York’s crypto regulatory regime remains a guide for domestic and international regulators, including Congress, said Adrienne Harris, head of the New York Department of Financial Services, Wednesday at Consensus 2025 in Toronto.
Harris said the process of being regulated in her state can be difficult, but, she argued, New York’s high standards have proven to be effective.
“The evidence is in pudding when you see that FTX, Voyager, Celsius did not pass our test and therefore could not do business in New York,” she said, naming companies that later spectacularly collapsed.
Among us states, New York has been in the vault of the crypto regulation, after creating his bitlicense to regulate crypto companies and set aside what Harris said was a 60-person staff for the work.
With Congress, which is still working on crypto regulations, the narrow jurisdiction of the US Ministry of Finance’s economic crime network (FINC) remains the only federal level supervision so that states represent the rest of US supervision of the industry.
Harris’ deputy, who oversees digital assets, Ken Coghill, also appeared on consensus on Wednesday. He said the most important question is to prevent money laundering and other financial crime. Crypto licensors and applicants often underestimate how much work it takes to become a regulated device. Most applicants do not manage it, he noted.
“You don’t just present a product; you present yourself,” Coghill said. “There is a huge amount of homework that needs to be done” – especially in understanding and outlines “what the risks are that your business creates.”
