New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu has signed a bill that exempts people using digital currencies such as bitcoin from registering as the state’s money transmitters.
Governor Sununu signed House Bill 436 into law on 02 June 2017, CoinDesk reported. First introduced in January by Rep. Barbara Biggie and Rep. Keith Ammon, the bill defines “virtual currency” as:
“[A] digital representation of value that can be digitally traded and functions as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, or a store of value but does not have legal tender status as recognized by the United States government.”
The bill exempts "persons conducting business using transactions conducted in whole or in part in virtual currency" from money transmission regulations in the state of New Hampshire.
The House of Representatives passed the bill by a 185-170 margin in March. The following month, the Senate cleared it by a 13-10 votes, according to the public records on LegiScan. The law will fo into effect on 01 August 2017.
Recently, Vermont Governor signed House Bill 182 into law that updates the state’s money transmission rules to include a definition for “virtual currencies”. With this law, money transmitters can now hold digital currencies as a kind of "permissible investment", but "only to the extent of outstanding transmission obligations received by the licensee in identical denomination of virtual currency".
