Virginia Signs Law on Unclaimed Digital Assets

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger signed House Bill 798 into law on April 14, 2026, establishing a new framework for handling unclaimed digital assets under the state's unclaimed property statute. The legislation, which takes effect on July 1, 2026, requires custodians to transfer dormant cryptocurrency and similar assets to the state in their original form and mandates a minimum one-year holding period before any potential sale, aiming to protect owners from losses due to market volatility.

The law defines digital assets as representations of value that function as a medium of exchange, unit of account, or store of value, excluding items such as in-game currencies limited to specific platforms and nontransferable rewards. Accounts showing no owner activity, including transactions, logins, or other indications of engagement, for five years will be presumed abandoned. Custodians like cryptocurrency exchanges must then report and transfer these assets in-kind, meaning the actual tokens such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, rather than converting them to cash immediately.

This approach addresses a key issue in traditional unclaimed property practices, where states often liquidated...