Two bills submitted in the Senate of Hawaii last week are aimed at defining and incorporating virtual currencies within the scope of the State Remittances Act.
If adopted, the draft laws HI SB2853 and HI SB3082 will require companies and individuals involved in the transfer of virtual currencies to obtain a corresponding license for this. In addition, before making a money transfer, companies will be required to notify customers of the risks associated with it.
However, the bills, in particular, exempt the exchanges from compliance with section 489D-8 of the Law, according to which companies engaged in money transfers must have reserves in accordance with the volume of customer funds held on the exchange in virtual currency. The Department of Financial Institutions of Hawaii said earlier that it plans to keep this requirement for the stock exchanges, prompting the American Coinbase crypto company to cease operations in the state.
However, despite this clause, the bill HI SB3082 contains a warning about the volatility of the crypto currency and stresses that they are not protected and are not supported by any government or tangible assets. The document says:
"You should know that there is a potential opportunity to lose all your virtual currency. Although cash can also be lost, with virtual currency, this loss can occur because of computer failure, malware attack, hacking, closing or disappearing of a crypto-exchange company, security problems, loss of your private key or sudden change in value. "
Both bills were proposed shortly after the creation of the Uniform Regulation of the Virtual Currency Businesses Act, published in 2017 as a guide for states seeking to adopt policies and regulations related to technology. The template was compiled by the Unified Legal Affairs Commission (ULC), a non-profit association of 350 members. They are all lawyers by profession, and their goal is to develop bills that clarify work in areas where local state laws create an unstable situation.