Pennsylvania House of Representatives passes a bill on non-custodial storage of cryptocurrencies

What’s new? The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has passed a bill that protects residents’ rights to self-storage digital assets, guarantees the ability to use bitcoin as a means of payment, and provides clear guidelines on the taxation of transactions. The document dubbed the Bitcoin Rights bill, passed with strong bipartisan support by an overwhelming 176 to 26 vote. It was unanimously supported by all 100 Republicans and 76 Democrats.

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What else is known? The bill was drafted by the third-party non-profit Satoshi Action Fund (SAF). The organization had previously helped create and introduce similar bills in 20 other states, four of which, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Montana and Arkansas, became law.

As for Pennsylvania, after the November elections, the bill will go to the local Senate, where Republicans hold the majority. If approved by the Senate, the document will go to Governor Josh Shapiro, who is a member of the Democratic Party.

“It’s great to see both sides of the aisle come together to further innovation and prioritize security for Pennsylvanians who own and transact with cryptocurrency,” said Republican Mike Cabell, the bill’s sponsor and bitcoin investor.

Pennsylvania is currently the only state where neither party holds an overwhelming majority of seats in the legislature: this means that bills always require bipartisan support to pass.

According to recent data, 1,5 million residents in Pennsylvania own digital assets in various forms, or 12% of the total population of 13 million.

SFA founder Dennis Porter notes that Pennsylvania is the most important state in the presidential race, and the outcome could depend on a small group of voters.

According to Polymarket, the largest decentralized crypto prediction market, Pennsylvania is among a few swing states. While traditionally Republican states such as Wyoming and South Dakota have 100% support for Donald Trump, in Pennsylvania the 45th president leads with 59%, while Kamala Harris is given 41%.

Representatives of the crypto industry have repeatedly criticized the administration of current President Joe Biden for its hostile approach to regulating digital assets. Biden-appointed Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler recently said he would continue to regulate the industry through coercion, by filing lawsuits against individual crypto firms.

The main candidates of the current race differ significantly in their approach to the industry. Trump accepts donations in cryptocurrency, speaks out on the need to turn the United States into a global center of blockchain technology, create national bitcoin reserves and support local miners. Harris promises to attract investment in the crypto sector and support the creation of clear regulatory rules.

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Last year, Senator Ted Budd introduced the Keep Your Coins Act, a federal bill that aims to give individuals the ability to store their digital assets without resorting to third-party intermediaries. If passed, the bill, which was a response to the collapse of the FTX exchange, would prevent federal agencies from enacting rules prohibiting the use of non-custodial wallets.

Earlier this month, $2,44 billion-capitalized miner TeraWulf sold a 25% stake in Pennsylvania’s nuclear-powered Nautilus Bitcoin center to partner Talen Energy for $92 million. TeraWulf will use the funds to build a data center for AI computing, which will open in Q1 2025.