The Pennsylvania House of Representatives recently passed a bipartisan bill focused on regulating bitcoin and other digital assets. This bill, known as House Bill 2481 or the Bitcoin Rights bill, aims to provide clarity on the regulations surrounding digital assets before the upcoming November elections. The bill received overwhelming support in the House, with 176 votes in favor and only 26 against, including unanimous support from all 100 Republican members.
One of the key aspects of the bill is clarifying residents’ rights to self-custody their digital assets. It also addresses the use of bitcoin as a payment method and provides guidelines for taxing bitcoin transactions. Pennsylvania is a crucial state for both Republicans and Democrats, with approximately 12% of the state’s 13 million residents holding crypto assets.
The bill was developed with the help of the bitcoin advocacy group Satoshi Action Fund (SAF) and reflects a larger trend of states across the country working to establish regulatory frameworks for the crypto industry. SAF has been involved in similar legislative efforts in 20 other states, with laws already enacted in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Montana, and Arkansas. The bill will now move to the Republican-led Pennsylvania Senate after the election.
In other cryptocurrency news, bitcoin recently broke the $64,000 mark while gold prices soared. The ETH/BTC ratio also slid to its lowest point since April 2021, raising questions about whether bitcoin is losing its bullish momentum.
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Shaurya, the Deputy Managing Editor for the Data & Tokens team at CoinDesk, focuses on decentralized finance, markets, on-chain data, and governance across major and minor blockchains. You can follow @shauryamalwa on Twitter for more insights and updates on the cryptocurrency industry.