Vault of Satoshi re-enters U.S. bitcoin market

In early March, Canadian virtual currency exchange Vault of Satoshi pulled out of U.S.-based transactions citing the “increasingly hostile” regulatory environment. In the last few months, VoS has focused on building up its Canadian and international presence, and gaining some official banking status after being granted a Money Services Business License last month. Yesterday, the exchange took its first step back into the U.S., resuming business in South Carolina.

In the Reddit post about the announcement, VoS Director of Marketing Adam Cochran explained the specifics.

We’ve said it again and again, “America, we’re coming back!”, we told you we were working every day to pursue our return to the US market and that shortly we’d be announcing our roll out on a state by state basis. … Today, we at Vault of Satoshi are proud to announce our first US State. … Welcome on board South Carolina.

South Carolina is an obvious choice for a VoS U.S. relaunch, being one of only two states with no money transmitter license requirements. In other states, such licenses can easily cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Although bitcoin adoption in South Carolina is marginal at best, it does allow a foothold for Vault of Satoshi to begin its state-by-state return. VoS-using South Carolina residents can convert on a coin-to-coin basis with no verification, and can trade coin-to-fiat after providing identification and proof-of-residency documents.

Earlier today, Vault of Satoshi also announced a limited return to Texas, allowing coin-to-coin transactions.