Galaxy Wins NY BitLicense, Revolut Launches Dogecoin Card as Regulated Crypto Expands

Crypto News

Galaxy Digital announced Monday that New York regulators approved its application for a BitLicense and money transmitter license, opening institutional digital asset trading and custody services across one of the country's strictest crypto jurisdictions. The clearance authorizes GalaxyOne Prime NY to serve hedge funds, registered investment advisors and family offices through a platform that manages roughly $9 billion in client assets. Founder and CEO Mike Novogratz framed the milestone as recognition that institutional allocators no longer treat digital assets as peripheral. The approval makes Galaxy only the second crypto firm to clear the BitLicense process in 2026, reinforcing New York's role as a gateway to deep institutional capital.

The state-level breakthrough follows Bitcoin payments company Strike, which secured its own NYDFS clearance earlier in the year under chief executive Jack Mallers. Strike used the approval to roll out bitcoin purchase services, salary-to-bitcoin conversion features and payment offerings tied to bitcoin balances across the state. The company has also signaled plans to enter bitcoin-backed lending — a business line that imploded during the 2022 cycle when Celsius, BlockFi and Genesis collapsed into bankruptcy. Two BitLicense approvals within two months suggests regulators are selectively reopening the gate to firms able to clear capital, compliance and cybersecurity reviews under the 2015-era regime.

On a separate front, Revolut introduced its first physical crypto debit card, a Dogecoin-themed product featuring an LED display that illuminates when users tap to pay. The card is usable at any merchant accepting Visa or Mastercard and will launch initially across the United Kingdom and European Economic Area, with Hungary, Switzerland and Portugal excluded from the initial rollout. Revolut said no additional exchange fees apply, though transactions remain subject to live exchange rates at the point of purchase and may carry tax implications for users depending on jurisdiction. The product squarely targets the consumer side of altcoin spending.

Revolut's launch arrives as crypto-linked card payments accelerate across the broader sector. Crypto.com, Coinbase and Binance have each broadened card availability, while Gemini has flagged its card programme as a meaningful revenue contributor. Stablecoin issuers and self-custody wallet operators are increasingly bundling card products as natural extensions of their core services. Industry data shows daily crypto card transaction volumes have repeatedly crossed the 100,000 mark in recent weeks, reinforcing payment cards as one of the few consumer-facing on-ramps that has scaled meaningfully in 2026 even as broader DeFi activity has remained uneven.

Revolut has been steadily expanding its blockchain footprint beyond cards. Last year the company embedded Polygon into its application stack to support remittances, POL staking and in-app crypto card settlement. In March it received UK regulatory approval to operate as a fully licensed bank and is separately pursuing a de novo banking charter in the United States. Some industry observers have framed the US bid as a potential pathway toward issuing a GENIUS-compliant stablecoin, aligning Revolut with the emerging cohort of regulated dollar-token issuers preparing for the act's full operational rollout in the coming quarters.

The combined approvals underscore how New York's framework continues to shape institutional access to US crypto markets a decade after its introduction. Companies operating under the BitLicense face capital requirements, cybersecurity audits and ongoing compliance reviews — a regime long criticised as costly but increasingly viewed as a competitive moat by firms able to clear it. Galaxy currently holds more than 50 licences globally, with its New York entity feeding into a broader strategy that pairs digital asset infrastructure with artificial intelligence data centre operations. The dual focus reflects Wall Street's appetite for crypto exposure routed exclusively through fully supervised counterparties.

The dominant narrative tying together this week's developments is the maturation of regulated crypto infrastructure on both the institutional and consumer fronts. From BitLicense approvals that gate access to deep US capital pools, to physical payment cards that embed crypto into everyday spending, the industry is consolidating around licensed, compliance-first models rather than open permissionless rails. The shift coincides with stablecoin legislation, banking licence applications and growing institutional allocations — early signals that the next leg of bull market adoption is being built inside regulatory perimeters rather than around them.