#### Bitcoin gains 4.5 percent after announcement of bitcoin license obtained in New York by Square
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Image source: [dailycrypto.io](https://dailycrypto.io/2017/11/16/11-16-2017-square-cash-app-launches-bitcoin-integration/)
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Square is the seventh company to receive a bitcoin license, allowing the sale of bitcoin via their Cash app. According to [businessinsider - Lucas Jackson](https://www.businessinsider.sg/square-stock-price-bitcoin-license-new-york-cryptocurrency-2018-6/?r=US&IR=T), shares if Square jumped 1.3 percent. 

> “Something like this could accelerate the pace of downloads and let the Cash app be more entrenched,” Dan Dolev, an analyst at Nomura Instinet, said in a phone interview. “It’s a win-win and another positive step forward for Square.”
Source: [businessinsider - Lucas Jackson](https://www.businessinsider.sg/square-stock-price-bitcoin-license-new-york-cryptocurrency-2018-6/?r=US&IR=T)
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Cash is owned by Square and has 7 million montly active users. The approval by New York's Department of Financial Services will grant access to Cash’s users to trade Bitcoin. Source: [CNBC - Evelyn Cheng](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/18/bitcoin-jumps-after-new-york-approves-squares-cash-app-for-crypto-trading.html). Bitcoin prices see an immediate jump from $6694 to $6793 earlier today. This is equal to a $13 billion jump in value.

> “[The] Department of Financial Services (DFS) is pleased to approve Square’s application and welcomes them to New York’s expanding and well-regulated virtual currency market.,” Superintendent Maria Vullo said in a statement. “DFS continues to work in support of a vibrant and competitive virtual currency market that connects and empowers New Yorkers in a global marketplace while ensuring strong state-regulatory oversight is in place.”
Source: [hacked.com - Sam Burgi](https://hacked.com/new-york-approval-of-crypto-trading-app-ignites-price-rally-for-bitcoin-altcoins/)
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Jack Dorsey, founder and chief executive of Square, is a big supporter of Bitcoin. He has helped enable merchants accept bitcoin back in 2014 and continues to ensure a thriving digital currency by rolling out bitcoin tradin via Square’s Cash app. Source: [PYMNTS.com](https://www.pymnts.com/news/bitcoin-tracker/2018/square-license-new-york-state-bitcoin-trading/).

Besides, Cash, the receipients of the highly sought after ‘BitLicense’ include cryptocurrency wallet and vault Xapo, headquartered in Switzerland, which manages Bitcoin cold storage solutions to be the sixth to be awarded the BitLicense. With only seven of such ‘BitLicense’ issued at the strictest law regulation, this has created a bottleneck for Bitcoin to reach the mainstream.

Erik Voorhees, the CEO of cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift, calls “the BitLicense what it is—an absolute failure.” Source: [Fortune - Jen Wieczner](http://fortune.com/2018/05/25/bitcoin-cryptocurrency-new-york-bitlicense/). Many companies have pulled out of the New York Market due to these regulations. The first five companies: Circle, Ripple, Coinbase, BitFlyer and Genesis Global Trading are the lucky few throughout the last three years to have been granted the ‘BitLicense’.

According to [bitreview.com - David Marc](https://bitreview.com/bitlicense/), a BitLicense application consists of a 500 page application document and a $5,000 non-refundable fee. However, the actual price has proven to be much higher. Coinsetter (now defunct) CEO Jaron Lukasiewicz told Fortune that the actual cost of submitting the license was $50,000, while BitStamp spent approximately $100,000.

Companies such as Kraken, Bitfinex and Poloniex are some of the few that have left New York. The start up landscape for bitcoin would be in dire situation if these ‘BitLicense’, a way for NYDFS to regulate cryptocurrency, are simply creating political red tape for the advancement of digital currencies.

#### -tysler
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