SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — A state Democratic bill that passed the Senate Thursday could regulate cryptocurrency in Illinois.
FILE – Bitcoin logos are displayed at the Inside Bitcoins conference and trade show on April 7, 2014, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
“This has been a very highly negotiated bill with the industry, consumer advocates and with the agency,” state Sen. Laura Ellman (D-Naperville) said.
While the plan is now in the House and hasn’t been signed into law, if it does pass, these would be some of the first laws put on the cryptocurrency industry.
All regulations of digital asset companies would come from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
Operators with cryptocurrency teller machines in Illinois will need to be registered with the state with a registration deadline by July 1, 2027. The process would include an application, and any application can be denied. Cryptocurrency operators would have to renew the registration annually.
Transaction limits would be imposed by the state. A new customer to a cryptocurrency cannot withdraw more than $2,500 in one day while existing customers cannot withdraw more than $10,500. Receipts would also now be required with all transactions.
Withdrawals from crypto kiosk machines would have a maximum charge limit, unable to charge over 18% of the total digital asset for withdrawals.
Operators must also have a live customer service line during company hours to help with any issues. This includes a way for customers to ask for a fraud refund.
Under the proposal, a customer can receive a fraud refund if they were persuaded to make a transaction by the digital asset kiosk. Then, the customer must contact the operator within 30 days and file a police report in 60 days to be eligible for a refund.
This policy would also give law enforcement a direct line to the registered operators, with the power to levy fines, fees or civil penalties against the cryptocurrency tellers.
Fines on these operators could reach up to $25,000. GOP Senators said on the Senate floor they respect the work put into the proposal, the bill language needs to change.
“I think $25,000 is very high very excessive,” state Sen Sue Rezin (R-Morris) said. “Other states are going through this process as well. It’s easier to do what other states are doing.”
Although this plan has passed the Senate on a partisan 39-19 vote, it still needs to go through the House. This may not be the crypto regulation that’s signed into law in Illinois, since there are multiple different digital asset regulation bills being discussed in Springfield.
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