California’s “unclaimed” Bitcoin could be seized, but there’s a catch

California lawmakers passed invoice Through the home on Tuesday, the state will have to seize holdings of customer cryptocurrency that have not been charged by the exchange after three years of inactivity because it has “not shown interest” in its holdings.

But while the bill has already sparked anxiety among crypto investors and has led to pushbacks across social media, there may be a reason to sigh for a relief.

Supporters of the bill say that unclaimed Bitcoin and other digital assets are not liquidated by the state, but are held by custodians for customers to regain later. Therefore, there is no risk of losing and selling investor tokens without consent.

Cryptocurrency holders must under Congressional Bill 1052, which aims to broadly regulate digital assets payments and cryptocurrency activities in California. To prevent the token from becoming state property, perform a “ownership act” at least once every three years. These laws include at least accessing your account electronically, among other qualifying actions, including conducting transactions involving a digital asset account.

The bill passed the House 78-0 on Tuesday, according to the California Legislature’s website. Now you can go to the California Senate where you can change, reject or change.

The draft law creates cryptocurrencies that are subject to unclaimed property laws when signed by the law. This is the same rule as traditional transfer of ownership on assets such as bank accounts and safety deposit boxes.

It is possible that some members of the crypto community have split up.

Some critics have beaten the bill, claiming it is a major violation of Cypherpunk’s ethos, a privacy-focused spirit that emphasizes the Bitcoin movement. That interpretation has encouraged many posts from Bitcoiner, advocating for independent assets, rather than relying on exchanges. However, supporters of the bill suggest that such concerns are largely exaggerated.

Eric Peterson panics over whether California officials can seize Bitcoin permanently under the terms of recently passed legislation I said In Wednesday’s X post. Peterson, policy director for the Probitcoin Nonprofit Organization Satoshi Action Fund, previously supported an earlier version of the bill.

“When Bitcoin is handed over as property that has not been charged from an exchange, it remains in the form of Bitcoin, rather than being liquidated,” Peterson said in the post. “Then you can get back from California with Bitcoin.”

Code-focused lawyer Haley Lennon doubled the points on her own X post on Wednesday, saying the type is the law is common.

“Most states have unclaimed property laws where the exchange is compliant,” Lennon said. “If the owner contacts the state, he will return to the owner.”

Peterson suggested that because Sied Bitcoin can value its value over time, customers who reclaim their assets will benefit from those profits rather than receiving the US dollar value of their assets from the time of liquidation. Of course, the opposite is true. Cryptocurrencies can also be in value while they are under state control.

Ultimately, what matters is that even if the state holds it, the customer’s assets remain intact.

With the following x threadPeterson further revealed the problem: “No one touches your keys or wallet,” he wrote. “AB 1052 says: I’ll keep them as is.”

Edited by Andrew Hayward