New York Considers Bill to Establish Cryptocurrency as a Form of Payment for State Agencies

New York Considers Bill to Establish Cryptocurrency as a Form of Payment for State Agencies – New York State Assembly member Clyde Vanel introduced a bill that “establishes cryptocurrencies as a form of payment for state agencies,” according to the bill’s description on the New York State Senate website. The New York State Assembly Committee on Government Operations has been tasked with reviewing Assembly Bill A2532. The bill: “Establishes that state agencies are allowed to accept cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and bitcoin cash as payment.” 

The bill seeks to amend New York’s state finance law by adding “cryptocurrency as a form of payment.” The legislation defines cryptocurrency as “any form of digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank including but not limited to, bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, and bitcoin cash.”

According to its text, the bill proposes authorizing state agencies to enter into agreements with individuals or entities to accept cryptocurrency “as a means of payment of fines, civil penalties, rent, rates, taxes, fees, charges, revenue, financial obligations or other amounts, including penalties, special assessments and interest, owed to state agencies.”

Last week, Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers proposed various legislation related to cryptocurrency, including a bill that would recognize bitcoin as a legal form of payment in the state. The legislation defines the cryptocurrency as the decentralized, peer-to-peer digital currency in which a record of transactions is maintained on the bitcoin blockchain and new units of currency are generated by the computational solution of mathematical problems and that operates independently of a central bank.

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