A New York bill would mandate public officials to disclose crypto holdings above $1,000

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A new bill being proposed in New York seeks to require public officials to disclose cryptocurrency holdings above $1,000 in the annual statement of financial disclosure.

New York Senate Bill S7272 was presented by Democratic Senator Rachel May to the State Senate's Rules Committee on July 2, The Block first reported.

"The purpose of this bill is to close the loophole on cryptocurrency assets, like bitcoin," the bill reads, and to "add transparency regarding individuals' interest in this type of digital financial property."

The bill highlighted the anonymity of digital assets, a feature that makes them difficult to track and regulate.

It cited the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack in April, in which the criminal group DarkSide demanded payment via cryptocurrency.

The bill did add that public officials are only required to disclose cryptocurrency holdings they have knowledge of.

"Cryptocurrencies of which the reporting individual or the reporting individual's spouse is the owner of record but in which such individual or the reporting individual's spouse has no beneficial interest shall not be listed."

If approved, the proposed law would officially go into effect on January 1, 2022.

Following the wave of retail investors flowing into crypto, public officials have been wading into the digital asset space, filings show.

Alabama Representative Barry Moore recently scooped up dogecoin, ether, and cardano amid a dip in some of the crypto prices, trading disclosure filings show.

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