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Bitcoin Exchange ItBit Seeks Bank License With Ex-FDIC Chair

Bitcoin exchange itBit has filed an application for a state banking license in New York, the NYDFS reports.

By Stan Higgins
AccessTimeIconApr 23, 2015 at 9:55 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 11, 2021 at 11:39 a.m. UTC
Sheila Bair, FDIC
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UPDATE (24th April 20:35 BST): This piece has been updated with additional information regarding itBit’s application filing.

ItBit

has filed an application for a state banking license in New York.

In statements to CoinDesk, New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) spokesman Matthew Anderson confirmed the filing.

ItBit may be approved within the next few weeks, according to a report by Reuters, citing individuals with knowledge of the process.

Notably, the banking license application reportedly names several well-known political and financial figures in the US, including former Federal Deposit Insurance Commission (FDIC) chair Sheila Bair and former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley.

According to filing notices published by the NYDFS, itBit began the process of acquiring a state banking license in early February.

Bair served as chairperson for the FDIC under President George W Bush, the federal agency that oversees deposit accounts and deposit insurance coverage guidelines.

Bair and Bradley, along with ItBit CEO Charles Cascarilla, Liberty City Ventures founding partner Emil Woods and former Financial Accounting Standards Board director Robert Herz, are said to be listed as organizers on the state banking license application.

A spokesperson for itBit told CoinDesk that the company does not comment "on rumors [or] speculation". Further, she stated that ItBit did not confirm to Reuters that it had filed for a banking license.

Image via Thatcher Cook for PopTech

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