 In July 2014, the New York State Department of Financial Services proposed the most comprehensive regulation of virtual currencies to date commonly referred to as a BitLicense.Unlike the US federal regulators it has gathered input from bitcoin supporters and the financial industry through public hearings and a comment period until October 21, 2014 to customize the rules.The proposal, per NY DFS press release "… sought to strike an appropriate balance that helps protect consumers and root out illegal activity".