Crypto Law Profile
Arizona HB 2749 creates the Bitcoin and Digital Assets Reserve Fund, updates unclaimed-property rules for digital assets, and requires abandoned digital assets to be delivered in native form to the Department of Revenue or a qualified...
Arizona HB 2749, enacted as Chapter 150 of the 2025 Fifty-seventh Legislature, creates the Bitcoin and Digital Assets Reserve Fund within the State Treasurer’s article of the Arizona Revised Statutes and updates Arizona’s unclaimed-property rules for digital assets. The act was approved by the governor and filed with the Secretary of State on May 7, 2025, and is treated here as effective as of Arizona’s Sept. 26, 2025 general effective date for the 2025 regular session. As of June 3, 2026, the profile status is effective/in force.
The law is narrower than a broad state investment mandate. Its reserve-fund provisions are tied to unclaimed-property administration: the fund consists of airdrops, staking rewards or interest earned under A.R.S. § 44-308(D), and the State Treasurer administers the fund subject to legislative appropriation. The statute also provides that, with legislative approval, ten percent of digital assets held in the fund are deposited in the state general fund, while Bitcoin may not be deposited into the general fund.
HB 2749 adds A.R.S. § 41-180, titled “Bitcoin and digital assets reserve fund; definitions.” The provision defines digital assets to include virtual currencies, cryptocurrencies, and other digital-only assets that confer economic, proprietary, access rights or powers. It also defines staking as committing digital assets to a blockchain network to help validate transactions, propose or attest to blocks, and secure the network.
The act amends Arizona’s unclaimed-property statute so digital assets are presumed abandoned three years after written or electronic communications are returned as undeliverable by mail, email, or another electronic messaging method. The presumption ceases if the owner exercises an ownership interest, communicates with the holder, accesses the account, makes a transaction, or otherwise demonstrates knowledge of the property.
For digital assets reported as abandoned property, the holder must report and deliver the asset in its native form to the Department of Revenue or the department’s designated qualified custodian within 30 days after reporting the property abandoned. On the department’s direction, a qualified custodian may stake assets to receive rewards or receive airdrops. If a digital asset remains unclaimed three years after transfer to the qualified custodian, any airdrops or staking rewards are transferred to the Bitcoin and Digital Assets Reserve Fund.
The act also updates public-sale rules for abandoned property. Digital assets listed on an established digital asset exchange must be sold at prices prevailing on that exchange at the time of sale, and the department may not sell a listed digital asset for less than the exchange’s prevailing price at that time. Unlisted digital assets may be sold by any commercially reasonable method.
HB 2749 affects Arizona’s treatment of custodial digital assets that enter the state’s unclaimed-property process. The principal affected actors are holders of digital assets, qualified custodians, digital asset owners whose property may become reportable, and state agencies administering abandoned property. The Department of Revenue has also published operational guidance stating that digital assets include virtual currencies, cryptocurrencies, and other digital-only assets, and that digital assets follow a three-year dormancy period.
The bill was introduced in the Arizona House on Feb. 10, 2025, passed the House on Feb. 26, 2025, passed the Senate on Apr. 30, 2025, and became Chapter 150 on May 7, 2025. No fixed future statewide implementation deadline was identified beyond the general effective date. Asset-specific transfers of staking rewards or airdrops to the reserve fund depend on the date each digital asset is transferred to a qualified custodian and whether it remains unclaimed after three years.
Establishes a State Treasurer-administered fund for airdrops, staking rewards or interest earned from unclaimed digital assets.
Requires holders to deliver reported abandoned digital assets in native form to the Department of Revenue or its qualified custodian.
Digital assets are presumed abandoned after three years of undeliverable owner communications, unless ownership activity or contact resumes.
A qualified custodian may stake assets or receive airdrops when directed by the Department of Revenue; rewards transfer to the fund after three years if unclaimed.
With legislative approval, 10% of fund digital assets are deposited in the state general fund; Bitcoin may not be deposited there.
Requires listed digital assets sold as abandoned property to be sold at prevailing exchange prices, with unlisted assets sold commercially reasonably.
HB 2749 was introduced in the Arizona House and assigned to House committees.
House third reading passed 57-0, with three not voting.
Senate third reading passed 20-8, with two not voting.
Governor approved HB 2749 and the Secretary of State filed Chapter 150.
The 2025 regular session general effective date applied absent a special effective date.
Custodians, Digital asset holders, Unclaimed property holders
Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies, Digital assets, Virtual currency
HB 2749 is an unclaimed-property digital asset law, not a broad authorization for Arizona to purchase Bitcoin with general state funds. The reserve fund consists of airdrops, staking rewards or interest connected to unclaimed digital assets, and the statute bars depositing Bitcoin from the fund into the state general fund.
