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A bill that proposes to modify state regulations for companies that broker transactions of highly volatile virtual currencies for Hawaii customers is scheduled to be heard today at the Legislature.
The bill, Senate Bill 3082, is one of two related measures that have advanced past the halfway point of this year’s legislative session and drawn divergent views that include support from the state and one major brokerage firm along with opposition from some technologists and mixed testimony from investors.
SB 3082 is scheduled to be discussed by the House Consumer Protection Committee at 2 p.m. in House Conference Room 329. The full Senate unanimously passed the bill March 6.
The companion bill, House Bill 2257, passed the full House unanimously March 1 and has yet to be scheduled for a hearing in a Senate committee.
Both bills set out to relax a regulation that one virtual currency
exchange company, San Francisco-based Coinbase, said effectively prevents such companies from doing business in the state. The existing regulation requires that exchanges maintain a reserve of cash or another liquid asset equal to the value of virtual currency purchased and held for a customer.
Supporters of the bills include the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. Coinbase supported an early version of HB 2257. Some individuals and companies involved in trading virtual currencies that include Bitcoin, Zcash, Dash, Ethereum, Tether, Stellar, Monero, Litecoin and many more view the bills as regulating something that shouldn’t be regulated.
