Arizona has enacted House Bill 2749, a measure that rewrites the state’s unclaimed-property code to cover cryptocurrencies and creates a “Bitcoin & Digital Assets Reserve” funded entirely from abandoned digital holdings. Governor Katie Hobbs’ signature makes Arizona the second state after New Hampshire (whose House Bill 302 became law on May 6) to adopt a statutory framework for holding Bitcoin as part of public reserves, yet the Grand Canyon State is the first to require that unclaimed tokens be transferred to the state “in their native form,” rather than liquidated for cash.
“This law ensures Arizona doesn’t leave value sitting on the table and puts us in a position to lead the country in how we secure, manage, and ultimately benefit from abandoned digital currency.” He added that the statute “protects property rights, respects ownership, and gives the state tools to account for a new category of value in the economy.”
Under the new statute, a digital asset is deemed abandoned if its owner fails to respond to three years of outreach. Once that threshold is met, the holder must remit the tokens—Bitcoin, Ether or any other cryptocurrency—directly to the Arizona Department of Revenue. The law authorizes qualified custodians to stake proof-of-stake assets, collect airdrops and harvest any other on-chain distributions generated by the unclaimed wallets.
The narrower scope of HB 2749—restricted to property that the state already holds in trust for missing owners—apparently addressed those concerns. Observers now turn to Senate Bill 1373, waiting on Hobbs’ desk, which would authorize the Treasurer to allocate up to 10% of Arizona’s Budget Stabilization Fund to Bitcoin.
At press time, BTC traded at $99,348.
