Real estate license, good or bad to be an investor

[John Smith]

I started taking my real estate business  seriously about 5 months ago as an investor and wholesaler but had a license for about  18 months, thinking about not renewing it but keep hearing that soon you will need to have it for wholesale deals that I cannot flip. Looking for best practices as I have friends who are agents and can get me deals that fit my Buy box. Should I not renew it as I'm not really using it for retail or renew it because that is where the industry is headed? Thank you and I appreciate it.