The Senate Judiciary Committee heard SB 351 on virtual currency authored by Sen. Garten and Sen. Busch. This bill adds a new chapter to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) that governs transactions involving virtual currency and does the following:
- defines “virtual currency”
- establishes the extent to which a purchaser acquires rights and interests in virtual currency, the circumstances under which a qualifying purchaser acquires rights in a virtual currency free of any adverse claim, and the conditions that must be satisfied for a person to be considered to have control over virtual currency
- amends certain sections in the UCC chapter concerning secured transactions to reference virtual currency and to provide for the perfection of a security interest in virtual currency by control or the filing of a financing statement
- amends the Indiana statute concerning unclaimed personal property to conform the definition of “virtual currency” in that statute to the new definition set forth in the UCC; and authorize (rather than require, as specified in current law) the Attorney General to adopt rules regarding virtual currency and digital assets, to the extent such rules are consistent with, and not otherwise covered by the bill’s provisions or any other Indiana law concerning virtual currency or digital assets.
The bill was amended by consent to replace the term “virtual currency” with the term “controllable electronic record” to align with the language included in the draft UCC and emerging technologies. The amendment also defines the terms: “controllable account”; “controllable electronic record”; and “controllable payment intangible.”
A representative from the Attorney General’s Office testified in favor of the bill. The amended bill passed 9-1.
Read the bill at: http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2022/bills/senate/351