California approves law to preserve unclaimed crypto in original form
...
On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1052 (AB 1052) into law, amending the state's Unclaimed Property Law to include digital financial assets such as cryptocurrencies.
The bill requires that unclaimed crypto assets—those that have been dormant for 3 years on custodial platforms such as exchanges—be transferred to state custody in their original form, without forced liquidation or cash conversion. This prevents automatic sale and ensures the assets are held securely by a qualified custodian until the owner reclaims them.
(That sounds great! The state now protects your assets! What could go wrong? ... read on:)
The Controller may convert the assets to fiat currency if no claimant has come forward within 18 to 20 months after an unclaimed account is reported. "These securities shall be sold by the Controller no sooner than 18 months, but no later than 20 months, after the actual date of filing of the report required by Section 1530," the bill says.
Ooops... and then, after 18 months, you probably lose the assets. This is called escheat.
OK, so you think you have to be quicker than 4.5 years?
Noooooo you have to be quicker than 3 years. Because... what's waiting for you is the mother of all compliance trap.
This is what happens to US seized assets under AML laws, if you're innocent and you want your money back:
85% of seized US money never goes back to the owner. It goes into the police budget. Can you say ... incentives?
2.13K
2
The content on this page is provided by third parties. Unless otherwise stated, OKX is not the author of the cited article(s) and does not claim any copyright in the materials. The content is provided for informational purposes only and does not represent the views of OKX. It is not intended to be an endorsement of any kind and should not be considered investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell digital assets. To the extent generative AI is utilized to provide summaries or other information, such AI generated content may be inaccurate or inconsistent. Please read the linked article for more details and information. OKX is not responsible for content hosted on third party sites. Digital asset holdings, including stablecoins and NFTs, involve a high degree of risk and can fluctuate greatly. You should carefully consider whether trading or holding digital assets is suitable for you in light of your financial condition.