Wyoming in the United States has announced the first set of rules for blockchain banks.

The state of Wyoming in the United States has announced a series of regulatory rules for its so-called blockchain banks, which cover areas such as forks, airdrops, and staking.

According to a series of tweets posted on Twitter by Caitlin Long, the chairman of the Wyoming Blockchain, these regulations were announced at the Fordham Law Blockchain Regulatory Symposium in New York on 11/11.

First Regulatory Rules for Crypto Custodians

In February of this year, the Wyoming Blockchain Bank was approved by the legislature in Wyoming, legally referred to as Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI), and can provide services using cryptocurrencies to businesses that cannot access FDIC-insured banking services due to their transactions.

Chairman Long, a Wall Street veteran and cryptocurrency advocate, stated in her tweets:

These newly released regulatory rules are the first regulations for digital asset custodians in many areas, including forks, airdrops, collateral, customer notice requirements, etc.

For example, regarding airdrops, the rules stipulate that unless otherwise agreed in writing, all proceeds are defined as proceeds of the affiliate or subsidiary, not the custodian. Additionally, SPDI is also prohibited from rehypothecating the crypto assets it custodies. Long added that the document has been reviewed by four chief technology officers of crypto firms, several chief operating officers, and dozens of lawyers.

Active Crypto Legislation in Wyoming

As the least populous state in the United States, Wyoming is quite active in crypto activities, with local government making significant efforts in legislation for the crypto industry. For example, in January, the Wyoming Senate passed a bill, which was later approved by the House on 2/14, allowing cryptocurrencies to be recognized as money. The bill formally defines digital assets as:

Representations of economic, proprietary or access rights that are stored in a computer-readable format, including digital consumer assets, digital securities, and cryptocurrencies.

That same month, Wyoming passed a bill that defines certain open blockchain tokens as intangible personal property, as well as a bill to establish a financial technology sandbox.

As Long mentioned, many businesses have closed down due to losing bank accounts, and these bills aim to address very important needs that the banking industry cannot meet, providing services to businesses that may not be able to use traditional banking services, including blockchain companies. She concluded:

I think Wyoming is a good model right now. We are trying to get other states to operate our legislation in different ways.

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