Wyoming Bill Proposes Classifying Digital Assets As Property Within Existing Laws

Wyoming introduced a bill on Friday that suggests classifying digital assets as property within existing laws. If passed, the bill will make Wyoming the first state of the U.S. to give clear banking permissions for cryptocurrencies and digital assets.

Wyoming is going all out to support cryptocurrencies and its underlying blockchain technology. Just a few days back, a bill regarding legislation to allow the issuance of tokenized stock certificates using blockchain tech was proposed. Now, a bipartisan group of state legislators introduced SF0125 to the government on Friday.

If passed the bill will classify cryptocurrencies as property and also establish “an opt-in framework for banks to provide custodial services for digital asset property as directed custodians,” determine standards for such services, clarify how Wyoming courts might classify digital assets and more.

The co-founder of  Wyoming Blockchain Coalition, Caitlin Long, believes that the bill is a major step forward and could be a boon for crypto startups and users alike, as reported by CoinDesk. She elaborated:

“A lot of companies are setting up as New York trust companies … the [Wyoming proposal] is a much better license than a New York Trust license because it’s [aimed at banks] and it’s in a state that has clarified the legal status of digital assets. Those two things are equally important. There isn’t another state that’s providing that clarity.”

Support for the bill

The bill has notably received immense support upon its introduction. The bill is co-sponsored by both Wyoming’s House and Senate including members from both the Democratic and Republican parties.

The list of sponsors has senators Drew Perkins (R.), president of the Senate, Vice President of the Senate Ogden Driskill (R.) and Senate minority leader Chris Rothfuss (D.). Steve Harshman (R.), Speaker of the House, and House Majority Whip Tyler Lindholm (R.) are some on board are representatives, alongside a handful of other representatives and senators.

However, Long has noted that bill introduction is just the first step.

“This [bill] was just released, it still has to go through everything. Anything can happen in a legislative process, it’s not done till the governor signs the bill, but it has a lot of momentum behind it and a lot of support.”

She further added that getting the bill to this point was a “labor of love,”:

“It truly gives the blockchain industry something I think it needs, which is legal clarity to bring it to the next level, and even the bitcoin purists who would be opposed to intermediate [entities] being in [charge] would take comfort in knowing they now have legal status for their assets.”

Read more: CBOE Analyst Ed Tilly Blames Wall Street’s Hesitancy Over Bitcoin On Lack Of ETNs