'Transitional BitLicense' for Bitcoin will allow start-ups to trade in New York

New York’s Department of Financial Services (DFS) is considering creating a special type of bitcoin license called a “Transitional BitLicense,” which would let certain small businesses and start-ups operate within a more flexible framework, according to the department’s Superintendent, Benjamin Lawsky. Lawsky is due to make the announcement on Sunday night at the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas. The initial comment period for the proposed BitLicense framework ended on Oct 21, 2014. The DFS is also designating a small group of specialised examiners to deal with start-ups and their license applications. Earlier reports had suggested that banks in the European Union should refrain from offering **customer accounts in virtual currencies** like Bitcoins until regulatory safeguards were in place. Crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin should not be considered as money or a foreign currency when it comes to taxation, **Australia’s tax authority** ruled out in August. Bitcoin, the best-known virtual currency, started circulating in 2009. Its present market value is around $8 billion, with up to 80,000 transactions occurring daily, according to accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP. Earlier this year, Mt. Gox, a bitcoin exchange in Tokyo  shut down its website  and had annonuced bankruptcy. In its bankruptcy filing, Mt. Gox also said $28 million was “missing” from its Japanese bank accounts. With inputs from Reuters