Hawaii: 12 crypto exchanges allowed to operate without license

Yesterday, the HTDC (Hawaii Tech Dev Corp), a structure set up for digital currency innovation, announced that 12 crypto exchanges participating in the pilot program will benefit from a special facility and will therefore be able to operate without a license.

The program, which will start in the State of Hawaii, was created in collaboration with the Digital Currency Innovation Lab (DCIL), the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the Division of Financial Institutions (DFI) and the Hawaii Technology Development Corporation (HTDC), and will be the first in the country to carry out a project of this magnitude.

This is about freedom from constraints in order to be able to operate in the territory without having obtained a license to transfer money and currencies. 

Obviously, in any case, the crypto exchanges will have to be compliant with all the regulations of the state.

Novi among the 12 crypto exchanges chosen by Hawaii

The programme will last for two years and will end on December 31st, 2022. Of the 19 companies that applied for it, only 12 were found to be eligible to participate in the program and these are: 

• Apex Crypto, 
• bitFlyer USA, 
• BlockFi Trading, 
• CEX.IO, 
• Cloud Nalu, 
• Coinme, ErisX, 
• Flexa Network, 
• Gemini Trust Company, 
• Novi Financial, 
• River Financial,
• Robinhood Crypto.

Hawaiian users will now have the opportunity to choose the solution that suits them best, said the Commissioner of Financial Institutions, Iris Ikeda:

“We are excited to welcome our inaugural batch of participants into the DCIL. Hawaii-based consumers can look forward to a variety of options for services offered by digital currency companies in the state. I anticipate leveraging this opportunity for our state to develop a robust understanding of one of the most exciting areas in fintech. States across the nation are starting to review their laws to determine whether the digital currency companies should be regulated for the benefit of consumers”.

Interestingly, there is also the name of Novi Financial, which is essentially the former Calibra, of Facebook, which will thus be able to test its system. Other attractive names are surely Gemini and Robinhood.

The participation was high despite the pandemic, continued the acting executive director of HTDC, Len Higashi:

“The response we have received from participating companies and the community is testament to the value of our program in advancing the potential adoption of digital currencies in the state. Through the DCIL, we hope to identify opportunities for economic development through this effort and very optimistic that we will be able to do so.”