Vermont Governor signed a bill into law last week that updates the state’s money transmission rules to include a definition for “virtual currencies”, CoinDesk reported.

The Vermont House Bill 182 was first introduced in February with six sponsors including Representatives William Botzow of Pownal, Michael Marcotte of Coventry, Mathew Hill of Wolcott, Jean O’Sullivan of Burlington, Valerie Stuart of Brattleboro, and Linda Sullivan of Dorset. The bill states:

““Virtual currency” means stored value that:

(A) can be a medium of exchange, a unit of account, or a store of value;

(B) has an equivalent value in money or acts as a substitute for money;

(C) may be centralized or decentralized; and

(D) can be exchanged for money or other convertible virtual currency.”

With this law in place, 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".

With the passing of this bill, Vermont joins the cohort of states including New York, North Carolina, and Washington, among others, which are updating existing regulations to include digital currency businesses.

Last year, Vermont passed a bill that sought to legally recognize blockchain records in the court system.