- Assembly Bill 471 eliminates money transmitter license requirements for crypto mining, staking, and blockchain software development activities.
- Digital asset exchanges receive exemptions unless transactions involve converting cryptocurrencies to fiat currency or making bank deposits.
Wisconsin lawmakers have proposed bills to alleviate challenging licensing requirements for cryptocurrency participants in the state. Assembly Bill 471 would relieve residents and businesses of the responsibilities of being licensed as money transmitters for activities with digital assets, such as mining or staking. The proposal is a meaningful effort to provide more clarity on the state level regarding cryptocurrencies and digital assets in the middle of a confusing landscape of regulations across the nation.
Bill Creates Broad Regulatory Relief for Digital Asset Activities
On Monday, the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau published a document articulating the parameters of Assembly Bill 471 after its formal introduction by state lawmakers. The legislation would grant exemptions for crypto miners, stakers, and developers of blockchain technology from licensing requirements through the Department of Financial Institutions in relation to their operations and maintenance of that activity. It proposes that exchanges of digital assets be granted similar exemptions, provided that the transactions do not involve exchanging cryptocurrencies into recognized government-issued fiat currency, nor writing checks or otherwise removing deposited funds from a bank.
The legislation makes clear that individuals have the right to accept cryptocurrency for legitimate commercial transactions and to maintain self-custody of those assets within individual wallets. State agencies and local governments would be further limited in their authority to prohibit citizens engaged in those essential cryptocurrency transactions.
Extra safeguards include not operating blockchain network nodes, designing software to operate blockchain protocols, transferring digital assets from one participant to another, and participating in staking mechanisms. These protections recognize the technical infrastructure that underlies cryptocurrency marketplaces and eliminate potential regulatory hurdles that could deter participation or create stumbling blocks to innovation surrounding cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
The bill has seven Republican representatives sponsoring it and two Republican senators co-sponsoring it in the upper chamber. The legislation is currently held for consideration by the Financial Institutions Committee, after being referred from the active floor for further consideration.
According to the legislative tracking service Legiscan, the bill has only progressed by 25% thus far in Wisconsin’s legislative process. It will have to pass one full chamber vote and go through two more committee review processes before it can even be enacted as a law. This lengthy review process indicates that the bill will face a lot of scrutiny before there is any final determination of whether it will or will not become law in Wisconsin.
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