New York’s plan to become a global hub for innovations like bitcoin has hit a snag, following reports that the licensing process for BitLicense has been clogged up.

A quick background: New York started requiring virtual currency companies in the state in June 2015—shortly after the collapse of Japan-based Mt. Gox—to apply for a BitLicense before offering services related to digital currency, including holding customer funds and exchanging virtual money for dollars and other regular currencies.

The introduction of BitLicense was, of course, met with a feeling of dismay among bitcoin community members, but then Department of Financial Services (DFS) chief Benjamin Lawsky, who acted as an early advocate of virtual currencies, was confident it was the right course of action.

Lawsky, however, left his position shortly after BitLicense as introduced. And since then, the regulator has issued just two BitLicenses, with 15 applications still pending, four others withdrawn and another four denied, according to a Reuters report. Two more virtual currency companies have received trust charters, which means that they are regulated like traditional banks.