New York Introduces Bill to Accept Stablecoins as Payment for Bail

On May 10, New York lawmaker Latrice Walker introduced a bill according to which stablecoins might be accepted for bails. The document describes already existing traditional payment methods and adds “fiat-backed stablecoins” to that list. The document intersects with the initiative of the New York Attorney General's Office about having additional authority on cryptocurrency companies.

The bill doesn't mention any specific stablecoins. It is also not completely clear whether this applies only to “internal” assets or “external” (issued by a company outside the USA jurisdiction) too. If this bill becomes a law, then New Yorkers might be able to use fiat-backed stablecoins like USDT or USDC for bail.

Strict cryptocurrency regulations in New York

A week ago, the New York Attorney General's Office also suggested a new bill which should protect investors in the Сrypto World. Among other things, it will give law enforcement authority to impose sanctions or even completely close the crypto companies suspected in fraud. Also, companies in the state will be required to compensate the financial losses for customers affected by the scam.

How this law will work in practice, given that there is still no regulatory definition of cryptocurrency in the US, is not entirely clear. However, this law will definitely require some changes in the criminal procedure legislation. So there will be a need for additional "clarifications'', that’s why Walker's bill seems like a timely addition to the regulatory framework.

By the way, the most high-profile and "expensive" bail in the cryptocurrency community was the $250 million bail of Sam Bankman-Fried. Only thanks to this, he is awaiting trial under house arrest, and not in prison. You can read the full story behind FTX collapse in our article.