The good news snippets
"Benjamin Lawsky, the superintendent of financial services in New York whose tough stance on money laundering wrung a $340m settlement from Standard Chartered, has said Bitcoin has reached a “tipping point” where its potential benefits outweigh the risks of illegal activity."
“My hope is that Bitcoin is very much at a tipping point and is moving from an earlier phase when it was dominated by some individuals who were more interested in the illicit nature of it, and what they could hide from people, and moving into a phase where it is more mainstream and will start to realise a lot of the benefits of digital currency,”
The bad news snippet
"Mr Lawsky’s department of financial services wants to make New York the first state in the US to issue clear guidelines to virtual currency businesses, which must register as money transmitters in most states if they offer financial services in Bitcoin.
Registration requires compliance with anti-money laundering rules, including checking customers’ identities and monitoring for suspicious transactions."
Registration to FT is free.