Stellar Lumens given green light for trading in New York

In a boost for the cryptocurrency market in New York, Stellar Lumens has been approved for trade by the New York Financial Regulators.

This is the first time Lumens has been given the go-ahead in New York, which many may find slightly surprising, especially since Fortune describe it as “now the seventh or eighth most valuable cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of more than $4.3 billion.”

itBit has added it to their exchange. Chad Cascarilla, the co-founder and CEO of itBit’s parent company Paxos, told Fortune that the move away from the virtual currency being viewed as a security was a key reason for it being added to their platform.

He said: “That’s why we’ve added them to the exchange… If they were a security, you’d have to go through a different process.”

It will be interesting to see if this now leads to other exchanges, including CoinBase, taking on the cryptocurrency.

It is widely viewed as the leading exchange in the US and currently offers trading in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin, although there are plans to also add Ethereum Classic to the mix.
Stellar, the company that created Lumens, was founded by Jed McCaleb in 2014. He also founded rival cryptocurrency Ripple.

This news had a significant impact on Stellar Lumens price, with Fortune reporting that it “rose more than 5% ahead of itBit’s news.”

While speaking to Fortune, Cascarilla added that he is not worried about the fluctuations in the price of cryptocurrencies currently.

He is quoted as saying; “The interest and the adoption from institutions and large firms that have a lot of credibility is very real.

“That might not be reflected in the price today, but from what I see, will certainly be changing the landscape over the next six to 12 months.”