Virginia Senate Passes Bill Allowing Banks to Offer Crypto Services
Virginia jumping on the crypto bandwagon
Earlier in the week, the Virginia senate passed a new bill that "Permits banks in the Commonwealth to provide virtual currency custody services so long as the bank has adequate protocols in place to effectively manage the associated risks."
Winsome Sears is the first black woman to be Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. Since Ms. Sears is the incumbent, she's leads the Virginia state senate. As you can see from the picture, she doesn't mess around, and has a great financial mind.
This means that Virginia senators have been doing their homework on Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. Led by Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears, the senate unanimously passed the bill.
Democrats are starting to support cryptoÂ
The fact that every single Virginia democratic state senator voted in favor of this bill is a sign that Democrats are starting to take the orange pill.
Historically, in the United States, crypto has been an industry more supported by republicans than democrats, other than 45th President Donald Trump, who favors the US dollar. Senators like Cynthia Lummis lead a consistent pack of senators that try to get pro-crypto agenda passed on Capitol Hill.
This is starting to change. Democratic state Colorado passed a bill to allow taxes to be paid in crypto recently.
As some readers may know, Virginia was recently flipped in January from a democratic state to a republican one when Glenn Youngkin defeated outgoing Governor Ralph Northam. Mr. Northam appears to have either been neutral/negative on cryptocurrencies, given that he did not pass any pro-crypto laws when he was the incumbent in office.
A promising future for the industry
Since mainstream banks are now allowed to provide crypto custody services to new and existing clients, many other states may start to take notice. In addition, this will pave the way for a new generation of Virginians to utilize the wide ranging benefits of crypto.
It was an amazing feat for the Virginians to unanimously pass this bill. Crypto is truly starting to become a bipartisan industry.
