North Carolina governor has signed an amended bill on money transmitters introducing “virtual currency” as an official term and imposing the licensing on the companies transferring it.

The state’s Money Transmitters Act defines virtual currency as a digital representation of an asset that can be an object of digital commerce and function as a means of exchange.

The final draft of the bill envisages that all the companies processing cryptocurrencies on the territory of the state are required to acquire a licence. The licence will cost $1500 while the annual audit which companies will now have to go through will the cost of $5000.

The regulation does not touch upon blockchain services providers and other startups which are not executing money transmissions.

The draft bill was first disclosed in 2015, after a year of preparation that involved both local regulators and representatives of the industry.

“The fact that this went through the legislative process is a big step forward, the bill also adds more clarity than any other state by a long shot,” said Perianne Boring, the president of the Chamber of Digital Commerce.

Notwithstanding the fact that the amendments simplify legal aspects of digital currency transfers, they met criticism on the part of some of the industry players.

“Recently some have hailed the bill as very friendly to cryptocurrency innovators, suggesting it would bring significant clarity for all entrepreneurs and could serve as a template law for other states. This is sadly not the case,” wrote the head of Coin Center Jerry Brito.

He added that the amendments undoubtedly bring clarity to the legal space but do not specify which companies exactly are supposed to get the license and which are not (as an example he takes Lightning Network nod operators and electronic wallet providers with the multisig function).

Brito urges North Carolina to proceed with the development of the draft bill so that it could embrace all aspects of the cryptocurrency ecosystem and prove to be cryptocurrency-friendly.

Elena Platonova, Maria Rudina