Oklahoma "Bitcoin Freedom Act" Protects Free Software, Decentralized Exchanges
A Bitcoin Bill introduced in Oklahoma sets an example for how sensible Bitcoin legislation can work in favor of the people and the industry as a whole.
- Member of the Oklahoma Senate Dusty Deevers has introduced a new Bitcoin Bill called the "Bitcoin Freedom Act"
- The legislation formalizes how merchants and state employees can accept bitcoin as payment and protects non-custodial software developers and decentralized exchanges
- The Bill stands in stark contrast to introduced federal legislation, which offer no privacy protections for users
Republican Senate member of Oklahoma Dusty Deevers as introduced a new Bitcoin Bill called the "Bitcoin Freedom Act to Bring Oklahoma’s Economy into the Future".
The Bill formalizes how merchants and state employees can accept bitcoin as payment and exempts non-custodial software developers and decentralized exchanges from being made liable to overreaching Bank Secrecy Act regulation.
The Bill, introduced last week, states that "any firm that deals with digital assets and does not accept United States currency payments or exchanges digital assets for United States currency shall not be required to obtain a state money transmitters license" in the State of Oklahoma.
It further states that "any employee of this state, business, corporation, other entity, and resident of this state may negotiate and receive payment and compensation, including salaries, wages, and other forms of compensation, in Bitcoin," and "at the creation of a purchase order, any vendor may elect to receive payment in the form of Bitcoin."
"The Bitcoin Freedom Act allows workers to opt in to being paid in Bitcoin if they choose to. This small but possibly revolutionary change has the potential to offset the harms suffered due to inflation and make Oklahoma a national leader who embraces the future of financial technology," writes Deevers on X (formerly Twitter).
"One of my biggest campaign promises was to fight for the financial well-being of those I represent and do what I could to offset the damage caused by inflation. I will fight for this bill, for tax cuts, and for getting the government off your back and out of your pocket book," Deevers adds.
By clearly exempting any platform which does not "touch" US Dollars or facilitates the exchange of digital assets, Deevers sets an example for what sensible Bitcoin regulation may look like on a national scale, protecting the privacy of users and the safety of developers.
The Bill stands in stark contrast to legislative proposals made on the federal level, such as Senator Lummis' Bitcoin Act, which aims to manifest the use of Bitcoin in existing legal frameworks, as well as Lummis' bipartisan Responsible Financial Innovation Act, which specifically sets out to "combating anonymous crypto asset transactions like asset mixers and tumblers", introduced in 2023.
According to Deevers, the Bitcoin Freedom Act "ensures that participation is entirely voluntary, respecting free-market principles and empowering employees, employers, and businesses to choose the payment options that work best for them."
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