New York has ‘outsized role to play’ in crypto ecosystem — State regulator head
Adrienne Harris, the head of the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), stated New York has an “outsized role to play” in the crypto ecosystem, notably in shaping regulatory frameworks for digital property.
During a panel on May 14 at Consensus 2025 in Toronto, she stated the NY property is often requested to present steerage on regulators. “With respect to federal regulation and legislation […] members of Congress are often coming to us [NYDFS] asking about our process, about our regulations, about guidance, how they should be thinking about legislation,” Harris stated.
According to Harris, the NYDFS was “unnecessarily tough” and lacked sources in the previous. Now, beneath her purview, she stated the NYDFS is “tough but fair,” noting that the digital foreign money oversight crew has since doubled in measurement.
Harris took over as superintendent of the NYDFS in September 2021 after spending time working in the tutorial, nonprofit, and personal sectors. In New York State, crypto companies should both receive a BitLicense or a limited-purpose belief constitution.
“We’ve added nine pieces of regulatory guidance, so it’s still very tough to get a BitLicense or a limited-purpose trust charter,” Harris stated. “But I think […] the proof is in the pudding when you see that FTX, Voyager, Celsius, didn’t pass our test and therefore couldn’t do business.”
All three of these crypto corporations went bankrupt in 2022. The end result was a widespread contagion in the trade and years-long authorized proceedings. FTX’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, and Celsius Network’s Alex Mashinsky had been sentenced to 25 and 12 years in jail, respectively. Voyager’s founder, Steven Ehrlich, is dealing with authorized prices for allegedly deceptive clients.
Related: NYC Mayor doubles down on crypto push forward of metropolis summit
Harris ‘hopeful’ for stablecoin laws
Stablecoin laws has been a subject on the forefront of many crypto trade advocates in 2025. Recently thought of a bipartisan endeavor, it devolved right into a dispute on May 8 when Democrats withdrew help for the GENIUS Act over issues about President Trump’s crypto ventures.
Still, Harris stays “hopeful” Congress will finally cross stablecoin laws.
We’ve been working with Congress on all of the variations of their crypto and stablecoin laws now during the last three years nearly.
According to Harris, all latest laws tied to stablecoin regulation has been reviewed by New York officers.
“There isn’t a version of any of those bills, be it House or Senate, R’s or D’s, that don’t come to meet to the team to say, give us your feedback, give us your technical assistance, your insights here,” she stated, including that the majority of those solutions have been included into legislations.
The NYDFS, in accordance to Harrus, nonetheless needs to be “a state path for crypto companies.”
Magazine: Bitcoin funds are being undermined by centralized stablecoins
