Virginia banks are allowed custody of the customers’ cryptocurrency

The financial institutions will have to scrutinize the risks and have adequate protocols in place, the new bill says

15.04.2022 - 08:20

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What’s new? Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has approved a bill to allow the state’s banks to provide custodial services for digital currencies. The document was introduced by Republican Delegate Chris Head. According to him, the bill will allow banks to store the keys to their customers’ crypto wallets. The law will take effect on July 1. This is reported by The Block.

The Block’s material

What does the bill say? The banks will have to scrutinize the risks and have adequate protocols in place. Democratic Delegate Mark Keam, the co-sponsor of the bill, believes that people may be nervous about blockchain technologies, but everyone is familiar with banks. Chris Head stated that the new bill will give the state of Virginia a significant advantage. He called cryptocurrencies a new economic asset that everyone should pay attention to. The bill was passed in the House of Delegates and the Senate unanimously.

What preceded it? Chris Head said that he drafted the bill after seeing how the state of Texas tackles the issue of digital assets at a regulatory level. Last June, the Texas Department of Banking allowed state banks to custody crypto assets. In July 2020, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) took a similar step.

Earlier, the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) required banks under its jurisdiction to report any cryptocurrency-related activity.

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