New York Grants Its 18th BitLicense to Crypto 'Prime Broker' Tagomi

The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has awarded its latest BitLicense to crypto brokerage startup Tagomi Trading LLC.

Announced Wednesday, this is the 18th such license issued since the NYDFS finalized its controversial regulatory regime for virtual currency businesses in 2015. Tagomi has also been granted a traditional state money transmission license, according to an NYDFS press release.

CEO Greg Tusar said in a statement that the approval means Tagomi will be "New York's first agency brokerage for virtual currencies," meaning it will place trades on clients' behalf in bitcoin, ether, bitcoin cash and litecoin and look to fill their orders at the best prices available as quickly as possible.

Tusar added:

Tagomi recently raised $12 million to offer prime brokerage (i.e., high-touch) services to hedge funds investing in cryptocurrencies.  The startup went live in December, with a total of $28 million raised overall.

The company will "prioritize transparency" with its services, Tagomi general counsel Dhawal Sharma said in a statement.

With its new virtual currency license, Tagomi joins the likes of exchanges Coinbase and Gemini; market maker Genesis Global Trading; payments startups Ripple and Square; investing firm Robinhood; and bitcoin ATM operators Coinsource and Cottonwood Vending.

In a statement, acting NYDFS superintendent Linda Lacewell reiterated previous department comments about the agency's commitment to "fostering innovation and strengthening the competitiveness of New York's burgeoning virtual currency sector."

UPDATE (March 27, 22:30 UTC): This article has been updated with additional information.

New York image via Shutterstock