The Department of Financial Services of the State of New York (DFS) has published a guide proposed for approval in the status of an official regulatory framework, which is devoted to the listing of virtual coins and the general structure of coins included in the so-called green list.

The press release of the regulator, which was published last Monday, September 18, indicates that this guide was created on the platform of the original structure released by DFS in 2020. These regulations are clearly formulated expectations of the agency regarding the policy of listing coins. The guide is also a way to clarify the position of the regulator, which relates to the methodology of exclusion from the list of organizations falling into the DFS control zone.

The agency’s press release notes that the proposed measures include increased risk assessment standards for the coin listing policy. The guide also contains individual requirements for retailers that are consumer-oriented. Another particularly important point of the rules proposed by the agency is options for developing a policy for excluding coins from the list.

Also, the published guide updates the DFS Green List, to which virtual coins and tokens have been added, which have approval for inclusion in the list and storage by all licensees. The relevant information is contained in the press release of the regulator.

DFS has identified its efforts related to the formation of the concept of digital currency decision-making policy as an effort to ensure consistency and improve control standards in the industry through the coordination of best practices in all organizations. The guide published by the agency is open for public feedback until October 20.

DFS Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris says that the proposals were made public as part of the regulator’s desire to strengthen its oversight of the digital currency industry.

The press release notes that the agency’s program, designated as the VOLT initiative, aims to strengthen the department’s role as a leading player in monitoring virtual money in the United States. Also in this case, regulatory proposals are aimed at maintaining the pace of development of the industry and ensuring the protection of consumers and markets.

Adrienne A. Harris stated that in less than two years, the regulator has formed a team that includes more than 60 experienced professionals, created and strengthened measures to protect those who use digital money, provided a base of legal guarantees for the area of virtual currency turnover, actively interacted with politicians around the world, including the United States Congress, in order to approve the existence of a prudential supervision agency in the designated sphere.

The press release notes that as part of the VOLT initiative, DFS has implemented new control policy solutions, procedures, and evaluation powers. All these measures are necessary to support the growth of the virtual currency unit. The agency has formulated and published proposals for regulating the industry, which set standards for stablecoins, guarantee mechanisms for protecting customers in situations of insolvency, and offer recommendations on the use of blockchain analytics tools.

The press release also contains information that DFS has taken enforcement actions against cryptocurrency companies. As a result of this activity, fines were imposed, the total amount of which exceeded $132 million.

As we have reported earlier, NY Fed Partners With Singapore on Multicurrency Cross-Border CBDC.