Bitcoin
Bitcoin self-custody enshrined as a right in Oklahoma
Oklahoma became the first US state to pass a law protecting the right to Bitcoin self-custody.
The new law says that citizens cannot be prevented from holding and controlling digital assets using a hardware wallet. It also states that the state government cannot prohibit or restrict the use of cryptography to acquire legal goods and services.
The so-called ‘Bitcoin Rights’ bill – HB3594 – was signed into law by Oklahoma’s Republican governor Kevin Stitt on Monday, and the nonprofit Satoshi Action Fund says more states will follow suit.
“I think at the end of the day, policymakers across the country are very open to these types of policies,” said the fund’s CEO and co-founder, Dennis Porter. Decrypt.
The project also mentions digital asset miningallowing ordinary citizens to participate in the industry – within limits.
“It shall be legal in the state of Oklahoma to participate in domestic digital asset mining as long as the person engaged in domestic digital asset mining complies with all local noise laws,” the law says.
Crypto mining involves minting new coins and keeping digital currency networks running. It is an energy-intensive industry that uses large amounts of hardware, space and resources. Most Bitcoin mining operations today are industrial-scale operations that can generate a lot of noise.
The Satoshi Action Fund created the model for the bill, which was introduced in 15 other states. The Oklahoma Bitcoin Association helped educate lawmakers about the benefits of Bitcoin and played a major role in making Oklahoma the first state to pass the bill, Porter said.
Cryptography has become an increasingly hot political topic, and a evolving along party lines. At the national level, at least, Democrats typically focus on potential threats of technology, while Republicans oppose regulations which they say harms innovation in a globally competitive market.
Porter said similar laws are inevitably coming to other states — and that it’s not a question of “left versus right.”
“Elizabeth Warren is an important figure in the Biden administration,” he said, referring to U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a outspoken crypto critic. “It’s really like Elizabeth Warren and her banker friends who are influencing federal policy.”
“As we see technology gaining more and more attention and receiving more and more scrutiny, we see people on the left taking a closer look and not just believing what the mainstream media tells them about this technology,” Porter added.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.