Photo

New York’s top financial regulator is looking at issuing a “BitLicense” for businesses that conduct transactions in virtual currencies like bitcoin.

Benjamin M. Lawsky, the state’s superintendent of financial services, announced on Thursday that he would conduct a public hearing to discuss the expanding world of digital money. Participants will discuss the feasibility of a license that would make the virtual currency market more like those for other forms of money.

If the plans go ahead, it would be an important step in bringing bitcoin and other virtual currencies closer to the financial mainstream. In another move in the same direction, the Federal Election Commission held a hearing on Thursday at which it considered whether to legalize campaign donations made in virtual currencies.

Since bitcoin was created in 2009 by anonymous programmers, it has been treated with derision by many financial insiders and authorities, who have described it as a speculative mania. Many authorities still hold to that position, but the currency’s online network, which is not controlled by any centralized authority, has survived several crises.

On Thursday, the value of a single bitcoin was trading near a record high, at $425, on the exchange Mt. Gox. The price has skyrocketed in recent weeks.

Several regulators have been looking at ways to make sure virtual money cannot be used for laundering money or other criminal purposes. In October, the federal authorities arrested the operator of an online marketplace where they said bitcoin could be used to buy drugs and other illegal goods.

“The cloak of anonymity provided by virtual currencies has helped support dangerous criminal activity, such as drug smuggling, money laundering, gunrunning and child pornography,” Mr. Lawsky said in a letter announcing the hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.