Hawaiian Banks Could Start Storing Digital Assets With New Bill

Hawaiian Banks will be allowed to store digital assets with the help of the new Senate Bill 2594 which was passed in the first reading. In our crypto news, we find out more about what this bill can do for the banks.

Storing bitcoin has always been a question of interest and now most users will have the ability to store them in a bank. Representatives in the Senate last week introduced Senate Bill 2594 which will make it legal for Hawaiian banks to store crypto assets including digital securities, open blockchain tokens, and virtual currencies.

The bill strongly implies Ethereum, Bitcoin and other decentralized coins that will be able to be stored by the banks if the bill is passed which could mark a strong step forward in the Bitcoin security game for the average user. Just because the bill was approved in the first reading, doesn’t mean that the banks in Hawaii will jump on the Bitcoin team but it can be presumed that the lawmakers are responding to the demands of the people. The banks may not be the only mainstream institution that will start offering crypto-asset custody.

Passing new legislation in Germany’s parliament as well will also make it easier for German banks to sell and store digital assets and as per Reuters reports in December, people were familiar with the matter which revealed that large Dutch Bank ING is also working on a crypto custody project. Other centralized institutions holding cryptocurrency will go against the trustless and anti-bank ideas of something such as Ethereum and Bitcoin which are blockchains that both promote decentralization but it could help increase the adoption of digital assets.

This is not the only potential legislation that has crypto in the center of attention in the US. The US House Representatives DelBenet, Soto, Emmer, and Schweikert introduced the Virtual Currency Tax Fairness act of 2020. If this bill becomes law, it would solve a huge issue in spending cryptocurrency for daily transactions and smaller transactions from crypto to fiat will not be a subject to potential capital gains taxes that ‘’steal’’ the wealth of Bitcoin holders.

The act will make sure that the crypto transactions where the gains are made by individuals will be under $200 and will be exempt from capital gains taxes which will allow Bitcoin buyers to buy almost any everyday items including coffee without having to deal with taxes and the IRS. There are also a lot of people in the US politics that are huge fans of Bitcoin that want to champion the bill if it ever reaches the desks.