eToro Brings Crypto Trading to New York Three Years After Securing BitLicense

• eToro has launched crypto trading in New York three years after receiving a BitLicense.
• The rollout places eToro among a relatively small group of firms that have secured approval to operate crypto services in the state.

eToro has finally rolled out crypto trading in New York, three years after securing the state’s much-watched BitLicense and after a long wait that says as much about regulation as it does about expansion.

The company received its Virtual Currency Business Activity License in February 2023, according to the New York State Department of Financial Services. That approval is effectively the gatekeeper for firms wanting to legally offer crypto-related business activity in the state, and it has never been an easy one to get.

A delayed launch in one of crypto’s hardest states

New York remains one of the toughest jurisdictions for crypto firms to enter. Since the BitLicense framework was introduced in 2015, fewer than 40 firms have been approved. Even that number can make the market look more open than it really is. Not every company that wins a license actually ends up launching services there.

That is partly because approval is only one step. The compliance burden, operational structure and legal separation required for New York often force companies to build dedicated entities just to serve the state. eToro followed that path, as many firms do, creating a separate legal setup rather than folding New York directly into a broader U.S. crypto operation.

BitLicense still shapes who enters and who stays out

The timing is notable. Three years is a long gap between licensing and rollout, but not an unusual one in New York crypto terms. The state’s rules have long encouraged a split between firms willing to absorb the regulatory cost and firms that simply decide the market is not worth the friction.

Kraken is one of the better-known examples of the latter approach, having stayed away from the state rather than operate under the BitLicense regime. eToro has chosen the opposite route, which gives it access to a large and financially significant market, but only after navigating a process many in the industry still regard as unusually restrictive.

For eToro, the launch is less about breaking new ground than finally activating a license it spent years obtaining. For New York, it is another reminder that access to crypto there still arrives slowly, carefully, and on the regulator’s terms.