Connecticut lawmakers unanimously handed a invoice prohibiting state and native authorities divisions from accepting cryptocurrency funds and holding crypto property.
The Home Invoice 7082, titled “An Act Regarding Numerous Revisions to the Cash Transmission Statutes, State Funds and Investments in Digital Foreign money […],” obtained bipartisan help and was signed into legislation on Tuesday.
The invoice doc stipulates that “neither the state nor any political subdivision of the state” shall settle for funds in cryptocurrency or buy crypto property.
The laws additionally prohibits the state of Connecticut from establishing a crypto asset reserve, making it one of many few US states which have explicitly rejected the concept of crypto asset reserves.
Democrats push the invoice
First offered by Connecticut’s joint committee on banking in February 2025, the invoice was cosponsored by Democrats, together with State Consultant Ken Gucker, Senator Patricia Miller and Senator Matthew Lesser.
Because the first vote in Might, the invoice has obtained widespread help from the Home, with 105 votes supporting the invoice and solely 42 lawmakers voting in opposition to it in a vote on Might 14.
The most recent passage got here from 148 votes in favor of the invoice and 0 opponents, with three abstentions.
Some on-line commentators cited the Democratic Celebration’s vital majority in Connecticut as a key driver of the unanimous vote, particularly amid the social gathering’s broader criticism of President Donald Trump’s involvement with memecoins and digital property.
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One associated proposal, the Fashionable Emoluments and Malfeasance Enforcement Act, or the MEME Act, goals to forestall federal officers from utilizing their positions to revenue from memecoins.
The ban “does nothing of substance”
In accordance with some on-line trade observers, Connecticut’s ban on crypto funding by the state is probably going pushed by issues over volatility and regulation, however it may grow to be a barrier to innovation.
Alternatively, Brogan Regulation founder Aaron Brogan instructed Cointelegraph that the ban “does nothing of substance,” and somewhat displays that “some subset of Democrats have gotten polarized in opposition to the cryptocurrency trade,” seemingly due to its affiliation with Trump.
“That is signaling that Connecticut is symbolically against cryptocurrency, and to all of the states which have established Bitcoin reserves,” stated Brogan, including:
“State legislatures like to ban issues that weren’t taking place anyway as a result of it will get headlines with out the pesky downside of truly having penalties in the actual world.”
Brogan additionally highlighted that the Connecticut governor nonetheless has to signal the legislation and pointed to extra disclosure necessities focusing on cash transmitters within the personal sector.
“That would doubtlessly be expensive, and bifurcate skilled practices in the way in which the California privateness legal guidelines have for some on-line purposes,” he stated.
Rising listing of states rejecting Bitcoin reserves
Below the Trump administration, the variety of US states contemplating Bitcoin (BTC) reserve proposals has elevated, with the variety of strategic Bitcoin reserve (SBR) payments reaching 31, based on information from Bitcoin Legal guidelines.
Connecticut, nonetheless, isn’t alone in rejecting such initiatives, with lawmakers in 5 states — Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota and Pennsylvania — killing SBR payments in February alone.
In March, Utah’s Senate handed a Bitcoin invoice however amended it to take away a piece that might have approved the state treasurer to spend money on Bitcoin. The state of Oklahoma adopted in April because the Senate Income and Taxation Committee additionally rejected an SBR proposal in a 6–5 vote.
The listing of states rejecting Bitcoin reserve-related payments continued to develop in Might, with Florida indefinitely suspending its SBR invoice in early Might and Arizona’s governor vetoing two crypto payments.
Journal: US dangers being ‘entrance run’ on Bitcoin reserve by different nations: Samson Mow