New York Superintendent of Financial Services Linda A. Lacewell announced on Sept. 5, 2019 that the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) has authorized Paxos Trust Company LLC to offer a gold-backed virtual currency, the first such virtual currency authorized by DFS, as well as Binance USD, a virtual currency pegged to the U.S. dollar.

DFS issued a limited purpose trust company charter in May 2015 to Paxos Trust Company, formerly known as itBit Trust Company LLC, which operates the itBit Exchange, to offer services for buying, selling, sending, receiving, and storing virtual currency. In September 2018, Paxos was authorized by DFS to offer its first asset-backed token – commonly known as a “stablecoin” – pegged to U.S. dollars, Paxos Standard.

DFS has now authorized Paxos to offer PAX Gold, an asset-backed token that is pegged to gold.  In addition, DFS has also now authorized Paxos to offer BUSD, an asset-backed token that is pegged to the U.S. dollar. In total, DFS has approved three asset-backed tokens issued by Paxos: Paxos Standard (PAX), PAX Gold (PAXG), and BUSD.

As part of the approval of products, DFS has established required conditions to ensure that potential risks associated with the issuance and offering of PAX Gold and BUSD have been adequately addressed, and DFS has applied New York’s standards regarding anti-money laundering, anti-fraud, and consumer protection, and cybersecurity measures.

The Paxos Trust Company is a New York limited purpose trust company, regulated by the DFS and is a participant of the Depository Trust Company. According to its No-Action request addressed to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Paxos Trust Company has also developed a securities settlement service which is a private and permissioned distributed ledger system.  The Securities and Exchange Commission Staff granted conditional and limited no-action relief to provide the Paxos settlement service a phase-in period of 24 months to operate the settlement service for de minimis transactions for the clearance and settlement of listed US equity securities trades without being registered as a clearing agency.

Tags: Albany, DFS, gold-backed virtual currency, New York, New York City, NYDFS, Paxos, Paxos Settlement, Paxos Trust Company, SEC, Westchester County
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Photo of Rebecca G. DiStefano Rebecca G. DiStefano

Rebecca G. DiStefano is a member of the firm’s Global Corporate Practice and Global Securities Practice with deep experience in capital formation matters and securities compliance. She counsels clients in a diverse range of corporate securities, corporate governance and regulatory matters at every

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Rebecca G. DiStefano is a member of the firm’s Global Corporate Practice and Global Securities Practice with deep experience in capital formation matters and securities compliance. She counsels clients in a diverse range of corporate securities, corporate governance and regulatory matters at every stage of the corporate life cycle from the emerging growth phase to mature companies evaluating exits.

Ms. DiStefano has wide-ranging experience guiding the executive suite at the intersection of capital formation and securities regulatory matters analyzing a range of finance options to help clients pursue their objectives. Ms. DiStefano’s public and private company clients span a variety of industries including real estate, hospitality, financial services, life sciences, energy, manufacturing, fintech and blockchain technology, and resources. She guides firm clients in financing activities such as early seed, angel and venture capital rounds, community investing, liquidity, bridge and growth capital, and including Regulation D Private Placements, Regulation A Qualifications, Regulation CF Crowdfunding, Registrations, as well as attendant continuing disclosure requirements, periodic reporting and corporate governance matters.

Ms. DiStefano’s clients are often private companies preparing to become public companies or planning for a significant growth phase. She regularly represents clients before the Securities and Exchange Commission and state securities agencies. She has served on the firm’s interdisciplinary Blockchain Task Force since 2017.

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William B. Mack is a co-chair of the Financial Regulatory and Compliance Practice. He is experienced in advising companies on regulatory and compliance matters relating to the Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, the Exchange Act, Anti-Money Laundering laws and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority

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William B. Mack is a co-chair of the Financial Regulatory and Compliance Practice. He is experienced in advising companies on regulatory and compliance matters relating to the Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, the Exchange Act, Anti-Money Laundering laws and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules.

William’s practice involves all aspects of broker-dealer regulation, including Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) membership, supervision, employment, research, soft dollar arrangements, chaperoning of foreign broker-dealers, social media, use of foreign finders, anti-money laundering rules, alternative trading systems (ATS), exchanges, and market making issues. He also provides regulatory guidance to investment banking clients in connection with securities offerings and related trading issues.

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