The California Legislature approved Bill AB 1052 on Wednesday. This allows states to assume temporary custody of Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency, which have remained in the central exchange for three years, to overcome all legislative cases. The initiative, which is now entering the state Senate, is updating its “illegal property” law to include digital assets under its scope.
The law considers “property laws” in which users frequently access accounts, make transactions, and deposit or retreat. However, the absence of these actions is seen as a possible abandonment of their holdings and the possibility that they could be taken by the state by the project.
The proposal raises the preservation of the original value of each digital currency that attends national managers. Unlike other forgotten products, such as bank accounts that usually end up in the dollar, California maintains Bitcoin and cryptocurrency funds in native format.
This is the idea that if the owner requests funds, it ensures that the value determined by the market at that time will be recovered.
It’s just a regulation It affects digital assets deposited on custody platformsIn other words, a central exchange. On the contrary, tracking Bitcoin autocustomies in which users maintain full control of their private keys is excluded from the scope of this law.
The proposal encourages self-promoting and other digital assets of Bitcoin, but the approval of AB 1052 is not exempt from the controversy.
On the one hand, advocates such as Eric Peterson, policy director for Satoshi Action Fund, believe the law provides “necessary protections.” They argue for this scale Avoid irreversible loss of funds that may otherwise be inaccessible Or, it is absorbed into the exchange itself after a long period of inactivity.
However, critical voices warn of potential risks to individual financial sovereignty and even classify them as “seizure.” This is the fact that the exchange is forced to transfer funds to digital assets that remain unshakable for 36 months.
California is making progress with legislative proposals for Provitocoin
In any case, the legal approach reinforces the fundamental principles that promote the Bitcoin community. “If they’re not your keys, they’re not your coins.” This position prompted the call. Users transfer assets from exchanges to self-ocastismreaffirms the decentralized philosophy of currency created by Nakamoto AT.
The proposal for AB 1052 was approved by the California Legislature shortly after another bill, AB 1180, advanced to the state Senate. With the latter approval, the state will allow a pilot program, as of July 2026, to pay state taxes in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.
Both initiatives respond to a comprehensive strategy launched in California, updating outdated legal frameworks to technical reality, protecting users from loss of inactivity and encouraging adoption through normative clarity.
For now, Both projects advance with legislative discussionsthey could be changed or rejected. To overcome this stage, Governor Gavin Newsom will spend 30 days signing or denying them.
If approved, California will sit with regulatory precedents that other states can replicate, accelerating the integration of digital assets into the traditional financial system.
