Wyoming House unanimously passes bill on utility token securities exemptions

In a unanimous decision, the Wyoming House of Representatives has passed a bill that seeks to exempt some utility tokens from securities regulations, CoinDesk reported.

House Bill 70 is “An ACT relating to securities; providing that a person who develops, sells or facilitates the exchange of an open blockchain token is not subject to specified securities and money transmission laws; making conforming amendments; and providing for an effective date,” according to the bill text.

The utility tokens will be exempt from securities laws, provided they meet the criteria listed in the bill. These include:

“(i) The token has not been marketed by the developer or seller as an investment;

(ii) The token is exchangeable or provided for the purposes of receiving goods or services; and

(iii) The developer or seller of the token has not entered into a repurchase agreement of any kind or entered into any agreement, arrangement or scheme with the principal intent and effect of manipulating or attempting to manipulate the price of the token on a secondary market.”

In addition, entities facilitating the exchange of such tokens would not be classified as broker-dealer if they meet certain criteria. Importantly, banks, credit unions, and savings and loan associations, among others, would be excluded from the scope of the bill.

The bill has now been passed to the senate for approval. If passed, it would go into effect on July 1.