Zero-fee online stockbroker Robinhood Financial LLC is bringing its cryptocurrency business to New York after being awarded a New York BitLicense.

Robinhood entered the cryptocurrency market in February 2018 with a product that offers zero-fee trading in bitcoin and Ethereum. But states where the service has been offered until now have been limited.

A BitLicense is required to offer cryptocurrency services in New York. Robinhood along bitcoin ATM firm LibertyX both were awarded a license today by the New York Department of Financial Services.

“Today, Robinhood Crypto received a virtual currency license, also known as the BitLicense, and a money transmitter license in New York,” the firm said in a blog post. “This will allow New Yorkers to invest in cryptocurrencies on the Robinhood platform, and marks another important step towards our mission of democratizing the financial system.”

In addition to basic bitcoin and Ethereum trading, Robinhood also offers trading options for Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Dogecoin and Ethereum Classic, and is now available in 30 states.

Robinhood is not alone is having gone down the path of seeking regulatory approval to operate in New York. Among larger applicants, payments provider Square received a BitLicense in July.

Launched in 2015, the Bitlicense has often been controversial in the bitcoin community because of its strict regulations relating to anti-money-laundering, anti-fraud and cybersecurity policies. After initial pushback, it has slowly been adopted by companies wanting to trade cryptocurrencies in the state.

According to CoinDesk, bitcoin ATM operator Coinsource obtained a BitLicense late last year so with RobinHood and LibertyX now also joining the club there have been approximately a dozen BitLicenses issued to date.

For Robinhood, the news is a positive as it heads toward a likely initial public offering.

In November the company appointed Amazon.com Inc. veteran Jason Warnick as its first chief financial officer, with an IPO rumored to be scheduled for the middle of this year. As of its last round, Robinhood was valued at $5.6 billion.

Photo: Robinhood