Wyoming has officially amended its insurance code to allow insurers to invest in “digital assets” in a breakthrough for the industry. Wyoming is one of the most crypto-friendly states in America, but even this development was considered far away. The new law, which comes into effect on July 1, marks a turning point in the acceptance of cryptocurrency, with institutions finally able to legally diversify into digital assets.
Utility Tokens Banned
The amendment describes digital assets as being “a representation of economic, proprietary or access rights that is stored in a computer readable format, and includes digital consumer assets, digital securities and virtual currency.”
This clears the way for institutions to buy into the likes of Bitcoin, Dash, and Litecoin but precludes them from investing in “digital consumer assets”, which they describe as tokens used or bought primarily for “consumptive, personal or household purposes”. This translates as utility tokens, meaning insurers will not be able to invest in the likes of Ethereum, EOS, and Chainlink.
All Eyes on July 1
News of the potential guideline amendments was released around a month ago and has now been enacted, with July 1 being the date that these institutions can take advantage of the new rules.
Whether any take up the offer will of course only be known at the time, but with the amount of positive vibes coming out of Wyoming with regard to cryptocurrencies it may be a bigger uptake than would otherwise have been anticipated.
Wyoming county adopted blockchain technology for its land registry back in 2018, making the process of working with the county’s property registrations quicker and cheaper, while in early 2019 Wyoming passed two crypto-friendly bills that defined blockchain tokens as personal property and facilitated the growth of a cryptocurrency sandbox to encourage the growth of blockchain firms in the county.
