Posted on 06/27/2025 8:30:01 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
California lawmakers passed a bill Wednesday allowing the authorities to take control of cryptocurrency from exchanges after three years of inactivity under the Unclaimed Property Law.
What happened: The bill, which proposes to regulate digital asset financial activities, states that "intangible property" held in a cryptocurrency account will become state property if the holder fails to complete an “act of ownership interest” within three years.
These acts include making a transaction, i.e., buying, selling, depositing or withdrawing, and accessing the account electronically, among others.
The draft legislation passed the Assembly and will now proceed to the California Senate.
The development riled up the cryptocurrency community, with several X users deeming it a seizure of Bitcoin by the state.
One Tweet states:
California just passed a bill to seize #Bitcoin left idle on exchanges.After 3 years of inactivity, assets can be taken by the state under 'Unclaimed Property' laws.
Bill now heads to the Senate.
Hilarious. California always finding ways to rob it’s citizens.
However, Dennis Porter, co-founder of Bitcoin advocacy group Satoshi Action Fund, dismissed these interpretations as inaccurate.
"All state have unclaimed property laws similar to this. What California did was say "any lost bitcoin we hold for users will be kept in bitcoin instead of liquidated to cash," Porter stated. “They don't keep it for themselves.”
Why It Matters: The debate over the bill follows the passing of a bill in the California Assembly, which would allow state departments to take Bitcoin under the Digital Financial Assets Law.
An expert that Benzinga talked to earlier said that seizing an individual's cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin, would be a "logistically and legally complex operation" given its decentralized nature.
Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC was exchanging hands at $104,690.58, down 0.75% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Lesson to be learned? Don’t leave your crypto on an exchange.
“””cryptocurrency account will become state property if the holder fails to complete an “act of ownership interest” within three years”””
The next proposed law will allow California to take ownership of a person’s house if they have not lived in the house for the past three years.
“The next proposed law will allow California to take ownership of a person’s house if they have not lived in the house for the past three years.”
More like if the state can take the house you live in if you don’t do any renovations over the course of 3 years.
Californicate has done the same to safe deposit boxes and bank accounts since the 1980's.
It's simply Piracy.
The "dormant" account BS came to bite me on a Bitcoin investment. I tried to get my Bitcoin out and the account holder refused because the account was "dormant". I tried to fix the problem. No success. The party holding the balance magically disappeared with my 5 bitcoins. Suffice to say, I'm beyond pissed off. My actual cash loss was around $8k. The Bitcoin loss was significantly more.
Exactly—self-custody only.
“Following precedent”. Translation: “We got away with it so far”
Unclaimed Property laws.
That’ll fill a translation book.
Can you explain how self-custody works?
If I understand correctly - original, virgin, Bitcoins exist only inside an electronic lock box created by the fictional Satoshi Nakamoto.
In other words, every individual Bitcoin is identical to every other individual Bitcoin.
Ownership is established ONLY if you know the unique 64 bit combination to a unique location inside the Satoshi lock box.
I do not understand how unique Bitcoins exist outside the Satoshi lock box.
Thanks in advance for any help on this mystery.
Pretty much everything you said is incorrect. I suggest you read The Bitcoin Standard, by Saifedean Ammous, for a simple explanation.
I have heard that before, maybe a half dozen times.
Strangely - every one who says that to me, NEVER explains what I got wrong.
Instead, ALL of you tell me to read some essay or watch some YouTube video.
The basic fact I always refer back to is that millions, perhaps billions, of dollars of Bitcoins have been stolen.
Unlike cash with serial numbers, Bitcoins are completely anonymous.
There is no way to prove they were stolen from you, or prove that you ever owned them.
If there was a way to prove it, the IRS and FBI would be arresting drug lords, Muslim terrorists, and tax cheats, every day.
You are incorrect, once again. Bitcoin can in fact be traced, and law enforcement do this all the time (see “chainalysis”). If you want to learn about BTC, read the book I suggested, as it’s the definitive work on the topic. If you are too lazy to read a book, then I can’t help you.
If you cannot justify your criticism in one clearly written paragraph, then no one should pay attention to your high school cheer leading.
Without an identified owner, and without an identified Bitcoin quantity, there can be no legal ownership, or legal valuation.
Since the whole point of Bitcoin is total anonymity, you have just destroyed the purpose of owning Bitcoins.
Sigh…every transaction ever conducted remains on the blockchain. Chainalysis allows anyone to see which wallets hold or held coins. This is anonymous, but just like any other such transaction on the internet, circumstantial evidence can sometimes be used to identify wallet owners. This is routinely attempted in the case of crimes.
Again, if you want to learn how Bitcoin works, do some reading.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.