Bitcoin and other major digital coin prices traded slightly higher on Friday in Asia. While not a major directional driver, news that New York financial regulators granted a licence to stock and crypto trading startup Robinhood received some attention.
The licence allows Robinhood to trade in seven cryptocurrencies, namely Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin in New York State, said the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) on January 24.
Vlad Tenev, Robinhood’s co-CEO, said the new licences “will complement the larger suite of investment services that New Yorkers already have access to on the Robinhood platform.”
The DFS also granted the virtual currency licence to LibertyX, whose users will be allowed to use debit cards to purchase Bitcoin from traditional ATMs.
In a statement, the DFS said it “continues to advance responsible innovation in New York’s fintech industry.” The regulators have so far approved 16 licences for companies in the virtual currency marketplace.
On Friday in Asia, Bitcoin traded 0.62% higher to $3,576.2 by 10:45 PM ET (03:45 GMT).
Other digital coins also made small gains. Ethereum edged up 0.77% to $116.782, XRP was up 0.64% to $ 0.31679, and Litecoin added 3.89% to $32.83.
In other news, the Italian government made its first regulatory move in the blockchain space.
Italy’s Senate Committee approved an amendment to blockchain industry regulation, which defines distributed ledger technology-based technologies and smart contracts. It also states that a blockchain-powered digital data record will enable a legal validation of documents at the time of registration.
