TL;DR
- Virginia Governor Spanberger just signed HB 798 into state law.
- The bill amends the Virginia Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act to include digital assets as a property category.
Virginia Governor Spanberger just signed HB 798 into state law. The bill amends the Virginia Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act to include digital assets as a property category. It passed almost unopposed through both the state house and senate, 96 - 2 and 40 - 0, respectively.
Escheatment - the legal process whereby the state takes custody of dormant property has existed for a long time, which is why digital assets often aren’t included in the wording of the statutes in most states. Virginia has now changed that. Now, digital assets are to be handled in-kind.
Before, unlike, for example, property or stocks, digital assets had to be liquidated. If an owner then appeared to claim that property, they’d have fiat rather than the digital asset, and any gain over the custody time would be missed.
More States are Changing Statutes
California was the first state to make the change to in-kind escheatment; Virginia now follows. But not every state that updates its escheatment statutes go in this direction. Some states, such as Kentucky and Illinois, have amended their state statutes to explicitly force the liquidation of digital assets. So, while some states have started considering digital assets a proper asset class, other states are doubling down on liquidation.
Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, tweeted about the bill:
Some good news out of Virginia. Governor @SpanbergerForVA signed HB 798 into law last night. The law updates the state’s unclaimed property statute to cover digital assets and ensures they are escheated in-kind. Thank you Virginia. pic.twitter.com/UxXwKLCV7q
— Paul Grewal (@iampaulgrewal) April 14, 2026
As an exchange, Coinbase acts as a holder of the assets in every state and conflicting escheatment rules are an operational headache as well as an operational liability. The exchange has been involved in several states on the issue to push for digital assets as a property category, for them to be held in custody in-kind.
Virginia's latest law signals an increasing way that states are entering the cryptocurrency market. Already in the United States, several states have established Bitcoin reserves or are debating legislative to do so.
Earlier this year, The state of Missouri advanced its legislation to create a state Bitcoin reserve to the State House Commerce Committee.
Missouri is one of the multiple U.S. states currently exploring the idea of bitcoin reserves. Lawmakers in Kansas and Florida have advanced similar proposals in the legislature.
Furthermore, Arizona, Texas, and New Hampshire have passed their crypto reserve legislation.
