Assigned to GOV FOR COMMITTEE
ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, First Regular Session
FACT SHEET FOR H.B. 2749
unclaimed property; virtual currency; security
Purpose
Establishes a process to deem digital assets as abandoned property and for a holder to
deliver the abandoned property to the Arizona Department of Revenue (ADOR). Establishes the
Bitcoin and Digital Assets Reserve Fund (Fund) consisting of abandoned digital assets for which
three years have passed after the date the abandoned digital assets were transferred to a qualified
custodian, if the abandoned digital assets remain unclaimed. Requires the State Treasurer, on
approval of the Legislature, to deposit 10 percent of the digital assets held in the Fund into the
state General Fund (state GF).
Background
Property is unclaimed if, for the applicable prescribed period, the apparent owner has not
communicated in writing with the holder or communicated by other means reflected in a
contemporaneous record that is prepared by or on behalf of the holder and that concerns the
property or the account or accounts in which the property is held and has not otherwise indicated
an interest in the property and if the holder has not communicated in writing with regard to the
property that would otherwise be unclaimed.
Property in Arizona is presumed to be abandoned if it is unclaimed by the apparent owner.
The schedule for property to be presumed abandoned depends upon the type of property, which
may include a traveler's check, money order, stock, principal on debt, savings deposit, credit, an
amount owed to an insurance company and other outlined forms of property. Unless otherwise
specified, property is presumed abandoned three years after the owner's rights to demand the
property or after the obligation to pay or distribute the property arises, whichever occurs first.
Property that is presumed to be abandoned is subject to the custody of the state if the
holder's address or domicile is in Arizona or the transaction of property took place in Arizona, as
prescribed. The holder of property that is presumed abandoned must pay, deliver or cause to be
paid or delivered the abandoned property to ADOR. A holder who pays or delivers abandoned
property to ADOR is relieved of all liability with respect to the abandoned property that arises
after the payment or delivery of the property. Within three years of receiving abandoned property,
ADOR must sell the property to the highest bidder at a public sale. ADOR may decline the highest
bid and reoffer the abandoned property for sale if ADOR considers the bid to be insufficient. A
purchaser of property at a sale conducted by ADOR takes the property free of all claims to the
owner or previous holder and of all persons claiming through the owner or previous holder. A
holder is a person who is obligated to hold for the account of or deliver or pay to the owner
unclaimed property. Property means tangible property or a fixed and certain interest in tangible
property that is held, issued or owed in the course of a holder's business or by a government,
governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality and all income or increments from the
property (A.R.S. Title 44, Chapter 3). FACT SHEET
H.B. 2749
Page 2
If the Legislature approves the State Treasurer depositing 10 percent of the digital assets
held in the Fund into the state GF, there may be a fiscal impact to the state GF.
Provisions
Abandoned Digital Assets
1. Determines that digital assets are presumed abandoned three years after a written or electronic
communication is returned to the owner as undeliverable by the U.S. Postal Service or email
or any other electronic messaging method.
2. Deems that the three-year presumption of abandonment ceases immediately on the exercise of
an act of ownership interest in the digital asset or by a written, oral or electronic communication
with the holder of the digital asset that is evidenced by a memorandum or other record that is
on file with the holder or the holder's agent.
3. Specifies that exercise of an act of ownership interest includes:
a) the owner taking action regarding the digital asset;
b) conducting a transaction regarding the digital asset or the account in which the digital asset
is held, including depositing monies into or withdrawing monies from the account;
c) electronically accessing the account in which the digital asset is held;
d) conducting any activity with respect to another account that is owned by the owner and
held by the same holder; and
e) taking any other action that reasonably demonstrates to the holder that the owner knows
the property exists.
4. Requires the holder who reports an abandoned digital asset to report and deliver the digital
asset in the native form to ADOR or ADOR's designated qualified custodian within 30 days
after reporting the digital asset abandoned.
5. Allows a qualified custodian, on direction by ADOR to stake to receive rewards or receive
airdrops.
6. Requires any airdrops or staking rewards to be transferred to the Fund on the expiration of
three years after the date the abandoned digital asset was transferred to a qualified custodian
and if the abandoned digital asset remains unclaimed.
7. Defines qualified custodian as a company, federal or state chartered bank, trust company or
special purpose depository institution that is licensed to sell digital assets and offer custody
services to customers in Arizona.
8. Requires, if the holder only possesses a partial private key to the abandoned digital asset or is
unable to move the abandoned digital asset, the holder to maintain the abandoned digital asset
until the additional keys required to transfer the abandoned digital asset become available.
9. Requires ADOR to sell abandoned digital assets that are listed on an established digital asset
exchange at prices prevailing on the exchange at the time of the sale. FACT SHEET
H.B. 2749
Page 3
10. Prohibits ADOR from selling an abandoned digital asset listed on an established stock or a
digital asset exchange for less than the prevailing price that is listed on the exchange at the
time of sale.
11. Allows ADOR to sell an abandoned digital asset that is not listed on an established exchange
by any commercially reasonable method.
Fund
12. Establishes the Fund consisting of any airdrops, staking rewards or interest earned on reported
abandoned property that is a digital asset, as prescribed.
13. Specifies that rewards received from staking a digital asset may be in the form of digital assets.
14. Requires the State Treasurer to administer the Fund.
15. Subjects the Fund to legislative appropriation.
16. Requires the State Treasurer, on approval of the Legislature, to deposit 10 percent of the digital
assets held in the Fund into the state GF.
17. Prohibits the Legislature from depositing Bitcoin into the state GF.
Miscellaneous
18. Defines airdrop as issuing a unit of a digital asset that is distributed in a broad, equipped and
nondiscretionary manner based on conditions that are capable of being satisfied by a participant
in a blockchain system as incentive based rewards, including:
a) to users of a digital asset or a blockchain system to which the digital asset relates;
b) for activities that are directly related to the operation of the blockchain system, including
mining, validating, staking and any other activity that is directly tied to the operation of the
blockchain system; or
c) to existing holders of another digital asset in proportion to the total units of the other digital
assets that are held by each person.
19. Specifies that airdrop does not include an exchange of more than a nominal value of cash,
property or other assets.
20. Defines digital assets as virtual currencies, cryptocurrencies or any other digital-only assets
that confer economic, proprietary or access rights or powers.
21. Defines stake as committing digital assets to a blockchain network to participate in the
blockchain network's operations by validating transactions, proposing and attesting to blocks
and securing the network.
22. Makes technical and conforming changes.
23. Becomes effective on the general effective date. FACT SHEET
H.B. 2749
Page 4
House Action
GOV 2/11/25 DPA 10-0-0-0
3
rd
Read 2/26/25 57-0-3
Prepared by Senate Research
March 10, 2025
AN/SDR/slp