The U.S. state of Illinois has advanced a bill to consider unclaimed cryptocurrencies at custodians abandoned after five years. The coins will then be liquidated and the proceeds remitted to the State Treasurer. The cryptocurrency owners will have no recourse against the custodians or the state.
Also read: US Lawmaker Introduces Crypto-Currency Act of 2020 While Under Coronavirus Quarantine
Crypto Considered Abandoned if Unclaimed for 5 Years
Illinois House Bill 4573, which amends the state’s Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act, was assigned to the state’s Revenue and Finance Committee on Thursday. As if to demonstrate the oft-cited bitcoin maxim “not your keys, not your coins,” the bill introduced by Rep. Michael J. Zalewski states:
[The bill] Provides that virtual currency is presumed abandoned if it is unclaimed by the apparent owner 5 years after the last indication of interest in the property.
The term “virtual currency” is defined in the bill as “any type of digital unit, including cryptocurrency.” A holder “means a person obligated to hold for the account of, or to deliver or pay to, the owner, property subject to this Act” and the term “Apparent owner” means “a person whose name appears on the records of a holder as the owner of property held, issued, or owing by the holder.”
Forced Liquidation
The bill additionally “Provides for the delivery of reportable virtual currency to the State Treasurer,” according to its text. Referring to the State Treasurer as the administrator, the bill proposes:
If property reported to the administrator is virtual currency, the holder shall liquidate the virtual currency and remit
