US Virginia Bill Proposes Crypto, Blockchain Study Group

US Virginia is considering the establishment of a working group to research blockchain technology, digital asset mining and cryptocurrency.

Legislators in the state of Virginia in the United States of America proposed establishing a working group to research blockchain technology, digital asset mining, and cryptocurrency.

The Senate received the proposition in the form of a bill on February 5th. The Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor sponsored Senate Bill No. 339 , granting the Bureau of the Financial Institutions of the State Corporation Commission the authority to establish a work group “for the purpose of studying and making recommendations” about all matters pertaining to cryptocurrency.

The panel will consist of thirteen members, including five senators, five delegates from the House of Delegates, two blockchain experts nominated by the bureau, and one member of the local government, in accordance with the bill.

Every member of the work group who is not a member of the legislature is required to be a resident of US Virginia. By the end of the year 2024, the group will have completed its work and will give a summary report to the Governor and the General Assembly of US Virginia “no later than the first day of 2025.”

The conference will take place in 2024. Senator Saddam Azlan Salim of US Virginia presented the initial version of the bill to the Senate in January, and the current form of Senate Bill 339 is an “amendment in the nature of a substitute” to that version.

The proposal that Salim proposed included regulations for the mining and trading of digital assets, as well as the treatment of these assets under regulations governing taxes.

Exempting those who operate digital mining operations from the obligation to obtain money transmitter licenses and exempting those who issue digital assets from the requirements to register securities.

Additionally, the proposal would provide tax incentives to encourage the use of cryptocurrencies for ordinary transactions, which would be an incentive. For the purposes of taxation, for instance, individuals have the ability to deduct up to $200 from their net capital gains for each respective transaction.

The alternative amendment would terminate Salim’s version in exchange for establishing the cryptography task group. CoinLedger conducted a recent study that determined Florida as the “best state” in the United States for imposing taxes on cryptocurrencies.

States such as Texas and Wyoming, which have a state income tax rate of zero percent, rules that are favorable to cryptocurrencies, and permissions for banks to act as custodians of cryptocurrencies, came next. The US Virginia failed to find a spot in the top five.