Oklahoma Enacts Bill Safeguarding Residents’ Right to Self-Custody Digital Assets

cryptonews.com:

Oklahoma passed a bill on May 13 to protect the rights of its residents to self-custody their digital assets.

The legislation, known as OKHB3594, was signed into law by Governor Kevin Stitt and sponsored by four Republicans: State Senators Bill Coleman and Dana Prieto and State Representatives Brian Hill and Cody Maynard.

The bill prohibits any restrictions or bans on using self-custody or hardware wallets to store digital assets, which ensures that individuals in Oklahoma have the freedom to control and safeguard their own digital assets without interference from third parties.

The legislation also allows Oklahomans to engage in both home-based and industrial crypto mining as long as they comply with local noise ordinances.

The digital asset self-custody bill will go into effect on November 1, 2024.

One notable provision of the bill is the exemption of crypto miners from obtaining a money transmitter license.

Oklahoma passes a law protecting the right to self-custody #BTC. The law says citizens can't be prevented from holding and controlling #digitalassets using a hardware wallet. Also, the state can't restrict the use of #crypto to buy legal goods. https://t.co/lhdcymffZj pic.twitter.com/eDDlOqntog

— sh3k1n4h (@sh3k1n4h) May 16, 2024

This means that individuals involved in home digital asset mining or running digital asset mining businesses, as well as those engaged in staking or staking as a service, are not required to acquire a license typically associated with financial transactions.

Additionally, the bill outlaws discriminatory electricity rates for digital asset mining businesses, ensuring fair treatment in terms of energy costs.

The legislation also addresses the use of digital assets as a payment method.

Oklahoma