'Bitcoin Rights Bill' Passed By Pennsylvania House With Bipartisan Backing — Protects Right To Self-Custody Crypto

The state of Pennsylvania has passed legislation setting clear regulatory guidelines for cryptocurrencies, with bipartisan support.

What Happened: The Pennsylvania House of Representatives gave the green light to House Bill-2481, also known as the Digital Assets Authorization Act, or more popularly the “Bitcoin Rights” bill.

The bill, drafted by the Bitcoin advocacy group Satoshi Action Fund, safeguards the self-custody of assets like Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and stablecoins, allows them to be used for payments, and exempts them from additional taxation.

Introduced by state Rep. Mike Cabell, the bill was passed with a significant majority of 176 to 26 in a bipartisan vote. However, it still needed the approval of the Pennsylvania Senate and the signature of Governor Josh Shapiro to become law.

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Why It Matters: This move by Pennsylvania follows that of Oklahoma, which became the first U.S. state to declare self-custody of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies a fundamental right earlier in May. Here too, the legislation was drafted by the Satoshi Action Fund.

Similarly, the state of Louisina passed the Blockchain Basics Act, a law that protects digital asset owners and miners while banning the future use of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC).

Pennsylvania is a key swing state with regard to the upcoming elections, and the passage of the bill could be another stepping stone toward clear and defined digital asset regulations at the federal level.

Brian Armstrong, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase , publicly endorsed GOP nominee David McCormick for the Pennsylvania senate seat due to his favorable stance on cryptocurrency. Interestingly, incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey Jr. also supported a resolution against an anti-cryptocurrency directive by the SEC earlier this year.

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