No More Forced Disclosure to Private Keys in Wyoming, Bill Passed
Wyoming passed a bill according to which the regulators would no longer be able to force you to share your private key
However, this law has an exception where the public key of the wallet would be unknown
Your private keys are the sole access to all of your crypto assets
And digital identity. However, if the government is empowered to enforce you to disclose the keys for the sake of investigation, it creates a severe threat to individual and financial privacy.
Recently, the lawmakers in Wyoming, the mountain west subregion of the United States, passed a bill according to which the regulators would no longer be able to force you to share your private keys. According to the bill passed on 15th Feb by the Wyoming House of Representatives, “no person shall be compelled to produce a private key or make a private key known to any other person in any civil, criminal, administrative, legislative, or other proceedings…”
However, this law has an exception where the public key of the wallet would be unknown. If the person does not know anything about the public key of their crypto wallet, he could be compelled to produce his private key. This bill also does not make any individual immune from producing, selling, transferring, conveying, or disclosing a digital asset, digital identity, or any other interest or right’ that can be availed via the private key.
Why did Wyoming Bring This Bill?
Wyoming is home to the most progressive and crypto-friendly law in the United States and attracts blockchain businesses from around the world. Wyoming is known for making crypto tax-free and being extremely bullish on the future of cryptocurrencies altogether. Wyoming lawmakers are also of the opinion that a proactive and open-minded government is important to make Wyoming, the hub of blockchain innovation in the U.S.A.
This Production of private keys; a Prohibition bill passed by both houses, is an indication that Wyoming is still working to make its legislation more crypto-friendly. The state has also benefited from this move, as a lot of crypto businesses have shifted their operations from all over the globe to Wyoming.
The bill passed by the Wyoming lawmakers is yet to come into effect and the last approval is awaited from Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon. The law is likely to be effective from 1st July 2023.
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