Getting a crypto license in New York is hard. Actually using it, apparently, takes even longer.
eToro, the trading and investing platform with more than 40 million registered users globally, has finally turned on crypto trading for New York residents, more than three years after the New York Department of Financial Services granted it a BitLicense back in February 2023. The platform is starting with around 20 tokens available for trading in the state, with plans to expand the list over time and eventually add staking.
Andrew McCormick, head of eToro US, acknowledged the timeline in an interview, saying the company expected to be live in New York within months of receiving the license, not years. “Certainly not,” he said when asked if he expected it to take three years. “We knew it wouldn’t be ‘day one, flip a switch.’ We were looking at maybe that year to launch. So we wish it were earlier, but we’re so thankful it’s happened already.”
McCormick noted that eToro was the first firm to receive a BitLicense following the collapse of FTX in late 2022, a moment that significantly raised the bar for regulatory approvals. “We were in the process, near the finish line, when that happened, and as it should, it certainly increased the scrutiny and diligence,” he said.
Why the wait was so long
The gap between holding a license and actually launching a product isn’t something that is unusual in New York’s crypto environment, and the reasons in eToro’s case were partly regulatory, partly political, and partly internal.
McCormick said the company was in no particular rush to launch during the Biden administration, which he described as not offering a “friendly time to invest and grow in the world of crypto in the United States, even if we have the proper licenses.” He also said the company’s primary focus during much of that period was its initial public offering, which was just completed last year.
The regulatory side added its own friction. Asides securing the BitLicense, eToro had to secure the well-known virtual currency license that has been granted to fewer than 40 firms since its introduction from way back in 2015. The exchange also had to secure a separate Money Transmitter License from NYDFS.
Many companies that hold a BitLicense never actually roll out services in the state at all. Some, like Kraken, have chosen to skip New York entirely rather than deal with the compliance requirements. With New York now live, eToro’s crypto services extend across 48 US states. Hawaii and Nevada are the remaining holdouts, each with their own licensing requirements the company hasn’t yet fulfilled, at least for now.
A constrained launch, with more to come
The initial offering in New York is significantly narrower than what eToro provides in other markets. In most of the 74 countries and 47 other US states where it already operates, eToro offers around 115 crypto assets alongside stocks, ETFs, indices, currencies and commodities. New York is starting with approximately 20 tokens for those that meet the state’s tighter regulatory requirements.
Staking is next on the roadmap for New York. McCormick said discussions with regulators on that front are already underway, and the company is updating its business plan and product lineup in line with the terms of its regulatory agreement.
The broader implication McCormick flagged is one that a lot of crypto companies operating in the US have raised which is that the state-by-state licensing framework creates real friction.
“The US currently has different regulatory frameworks by state,” he said. “A federal-level market structure bill is needed.” That sentiment has been growing louder across the industry as Congress continues working toward more unified crypto regulation.
For now, the New York launch puts eToro in a position to reach more than 9 million potential new users in the state, and closes a chapter that began in the immediate aftermath of FTX’s collapse, a time when getting any crypto company through a NYDFS approval was one of the harder things to do in the industry.