The New York State Department of Financial Services' Bitlicense Guidelines are meant to be the model for future federal Bitcoin regulations and are now under a community review period

On Friday, it was announced that Bitcoin entrepreneur and former Vice Chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, Charlie Shrem, will be pleading guilty to the charge of "unlicensed money transmission."



In January of this year, Charlie Shrem was arrested upon returning to New York from a conference in Amsterdam. His arrest was in connection to his company, BitInstant, a website that allowed users to buy and sell Bitcoin. Prosecutors charged Shrem with operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, money laundering conspiracy and failing to file suspicious activity reports with government banking authorities. One of the products we highlighted this week in our Bitcoin Product Spotlight was BlockSign.



BlockSign is an exciting example of the new possibilities that blockchain technology can enable. BlockSign allows two parties to sign and verify documents using the Bitcoin public ledger, the blockchain. BlockSignIt has created a decentralized solution to a problem that traditionally requires third parties such as DocuSign. This a great example of a use case where Bitcoin tech is more than just a currency. Bitcoin services provider, Coinapult, is sponsoring an "airdrop" of an unspecified amount of Bitcoin to every resident of the small Caribbean island of Dominica. On March 14th, 2015, all 70,000 residents will receive Bitcoin via SMS text message, instantly creating the world's largest concentrated Bitcoin community. They will also be coupling the airdrop with live music, parties, and other events. They are currently accepting Bitcoin donations on their website, as well as sponsors for the numerous events.