NEW YORK Reuters - The New York Department of Financial Services DFS said on Monday it had granted a virtual currency license to bitcoin payments processor BitPay A woman explains how bitpay a company designed to help companies use virtual currency to an attendee during the Inside Bitcoins The Future of Virtual Currency Conference in New York April 8 2014 REUTERS Lucas Jackson BitPay which was founded in 2011 is authorized to offer clearing and settlement services to merchants willing to accept payment in bitcoin or issue payments in bitcoin It is the first virtual currency wholesale payments processor to be approved for a license the DFS said In a statement DFS said it has conducted a comprehensive review of BitPays application including the companys anti-money laundering anti-fraud capitalization consumer protection and cybersecurity policies The new licensee is subject to ongoing supervision by DFS With the BitPay approval the DFS has now approved ten firms for virtual currency charters or licenses for the state of New York - Square Xapo Inc Genesis Global Trading Inc bitFlyer USA Coinbase Inc XRP II and Circle Internet Financial and charters to Gemini Trust Co and itBit Trust Co BitPay said numerous businesses around the world have signed up with the company to accept bitcoin payments including companies such as Microsoft Newegg Namecheap Gyft Takeaway and Virgin Galactic Companies who accept bitcoin and bitcoin cash with BitPay can enable transactions from any computer or mobile device the company said As a push transaction the user sends the exact amount of bitcoin or bitcoin cash needed to pay the bill and minimizes the incidence of traditional credit card fraud and identity theft Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss Editing by Phil Berlowitz