Hello, it has been a while since my last post. To make this as short and to the point as possible I will summarize some opportunities that have arisen in the USA as well as brief pros and cons of some proposals that have emerged. Mostly these are categorized below by state. California, Hawaii, and Wyoming are key states to watch now though they are not the only ones with something happening. There are task forces and efforts in various states to improve crypto law situations for us, the below however are key to watch.

California:

AB 1489 (2019-2020), now a bill having been carried over from 2019 which was designed as California's version of the NYC bitlicense, does not have support for passage, though there was another effort to get it passed this year.

There is a history of the above proposal having been defeated: it was defeated four times before in California since 2015, two times in Alaska, two times in Hawaii, and the community has defeated the Uniform Law Commission's proposed bitlicense once in every other state it has been introduced in since 2015. NYC's bitlicense, or a variant of the same, has never been made law in any US state despite attempts from the Uniform Law Commission and Coin Ctr in past years to pass this as state law.

However, this has also created opportunity for the crypto community to strike down the zombie reincarnations of this bitlicense monster. Currently, a near copy of the proposed bitlicense language (which is not going to receive support for passage) can be found by searching for AB 2150 at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov (when you find and read the bill, click on "comments to author" to send suggestions - you'll need to create a login). If you want to send a short message to your Assemblymember about the bill, you can do so quickly using the resist.bot tool which is still available.

according to Assemblymember Calderon's staff (the assemblymember that introduced the bill), they are looking at revising AB 2150 and it is anticipated that following input from industry and public, the bill would be different by June 2020.

AB 2004 (2020) is currently being used by their office just as a placeholder bill, without much text or action. It may get more filler later.

Therefore, the opportunity exists now for us to suggest full removal of the old proposed language in AB 2150 (basically all of which is language that needs to be discarded) and suggest completely new language. Whereas the old proposed California bills could not pass because they basically banned most forms of crypto business unless you had a license or one of a handful of exemptions, with the bill(s) proposing to make nearly every crypto-related act subject to state licensure, the more logical legislative pathway is the Wyoming pathway, in which there has been developed a licensing regime for specific forms of business, carefully regulated crypto-banks, with most other forms of crypto business free to operate without undue state interference.

You can also contact the California Blockchain Working Group about AB 2150 with your suggested changes. They are at https://www.govops.ca.gov/blockchain/ They conclude their policy recommendations to the State by July 1, 2020.

Hawaii:

Hawaii had a problematic crypto bill in a past year, SB250, which has language I would recommend opposing.

However, Hawaii's SB2594 (2020) is a sign of progress, that would allow people to hold digital assets in custody with option of acceptance of custody as bailment, similar to Wyoming's favorable crypto law. It is recommended to support SB2594 and weigh in on its progress.

Wyoming: various crypto bills were just signed into law, shown below. (All of these are good. Wyoming is way ahead of any other state in the USA on crypto-friendliness and in terms of having lawmakers with actual crypto knowledge, which translates to good law and a positive healthy environment for innovators.)

HB0008 - Digital expression protection

HB0045 - SPDI Amendments

HB0020 - Municipal Bonds - Digital Securities

HB0027 - Select Committee on Blockchain, Technology, and Innovation

SF0047 - Digital Assets - Statutory Amendments

HB0021 - Authorizes insurers to invest in digital assets Etc...

USA Federal:

In one glimmering ray of light, the SEC released a "Harmonize, Simplify" rule proposal of March 4, 2020. This may improve access to capital in markets... we'll see, pending outcome of what happens from the rulemaking process and the fallout from other things happening now across the spectrum of the economy generally.

in conclusion:

engage on California's proposed AB 2150

do not support California's AB 2150 in its current form

support Hawaii's SB2594

congratulate Wyoming legislators for just doing it right and setting an example

Thank you!