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Highlights
- California Assembly passes bill that allows state to take over Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies lying unclaimed in exchanges for more than 3 years.
- The partisan bill was passed by an overwhelming majority and it will now go to California Senate
- The state cannot liquidate any cryptocurrencies and can only provide a custodian on temporary basis.
The California Assembly passed a bill that would allow the state to claim Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies from crypto exchanges, that have not been claimed by customers for the past three years. However, there is also a catch, as the advocates of the bill claim that unclaimed cryptocurrencies won’t be liquidated but held by a custodian.
The contentious partisan Assembly Bill (AB) 1052, which was introduced on February 20 this year, was passed by California lower house on June 3, with provisions that would allow the state of California to seize any intangible property including digital assets if they are lying idle in users’ accounts for more than 3 years.
The Unclaimed Property Law provides that all intangible personal property of an apparent owner whose last known address or domicile was in the state, including intangible personal property maintained in a deposit or an account, which is held in a fiduciary capacity for the benefit of another person, escheats to the state if for more than 3 years after it becomes payable or distributable, the apparent owner has not taken specified actions showing an interest in or control of the property,” read an excerpt from the bill.
The bill will now go to California senate where it would undergo further modifications before getting the green light. The bill was originally introduced in the California lower house by member Valencia and has been modified on thee occasions with the latest on May 23, 2025.
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Can the California state really seize your unclaimed Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies?
Even when being introduced in the house, the bill was met with criticism online from the crypto community who questioned whether it was fair for the state to seize any intangible assets as per their whims. However, a section of the bill clearly explains that the seized cryptocurrencies will not be liquidated.
“If the digital asset account that escheats to the state pursuant to this section contains digital assets and the holder has full control of the necessary private keys required to transfer those digital assets, the holder shall report and deliver the digital assets in their native form to the qualified custodian designated by the Controller under Section 1516.6 within 30 days of reporting, and such placement with the Controller’s designated qualified custodian constitutes delivery. The holder shall provide the Controller with proof of delivery upon request,” read the bill.
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Vaibhav Jha is a seasoned journalist with a decade long experience working for national and international media organizations. His passion is writing and he has a penchant for research and storytelling.
As a crypto news editor, Vaibhav comes on board with his journalistic skills and editorial wisdom to ensure every story is vetted, fact checked and reviewed to ensure highest editorial standards.
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