This can't be real

[CryptoHeadlineNews]

Can someone please confirm if this is real? Someone close sent me this news this morning that you can't keep holding your coins for three years straight untouched anymore, the law will claim it.



This can't be real right?  Right now I believe this is some made up nonsense, and if it's real we are all f

Anyone from California can easily confirm it, I have no one living in California but other states in USA.

And the big question now is how will they be able to have access to the coin, be it either Bitcoin or Ethereum. Because this new law just brings us to another reason why we need to understand the importance of "Not Your Key Not Your Coin". Because this act can only be possible on a centralized exchange where they exchange and government has full control over your digital asset, and not on a non custodial wallet where nobody has access to it or neither know who owns it, since it operate in anonymity where KYC isn't used. Hence for those still has their Bitcoin on centralized exchanges, this is a clear warning to all of them to move their money away with immediate effect, to avoid stories that touch the heart when it gets confiscated by government.

[FirmWars]

Why this doesn't matter to me is because I don't keep my coins on custodial wallets again like exchange, even if I keep some coins on exchange, it's never going to be left there for up to 3 years and still, this law does not apply to my country and I don't think it will. For the citizens of California, I guess they have all realized that they don't have to keep their coins on a custodial wallet again except that are just holding the coins for a short period of time. I do not agree with this kind of law but it's already been passed and will mandate crypto users not to keep coins on cex again.

[coolcoinz]

Things I get from this news:
-don't live in California
-avoid socialist states
-don't use custodial services
-all that equality in the US is dogshit because what about fiat money in the bank? It's a custodial service. If I don't visit my bank account and do any bank transfers, do my fiat money gets stolen by the government after 3 years? If no, the laws aren't equal in the US. If yes, what about old people who had savings and never needed to withdraw any of it? Does the government specialize in taking away people's life savings that they worked hard to get?

[retreat]

Another reason why going self-custody and not disclosing your assets is so important to avoid absurd regulations like this is. Because from what I've read, these regulations only apply to people who use custodial services that entrust their assets to third parties, while those who use non-custodial wallets will not be affected by these regulations because they have full control over their private keys and assets, so they are not dependent on government decisions, which are sometimes so unreasonable.

[Jaksonhard]

Another reason why going self-custody and not disclosing your assets is so important to avoid absurd regulations like this is. Because from what I've read, these regulations only apply to people who use custodial services that entrust their assets to third parties, while those who use non-custodial wallets will not be affected by these regulations because they have full control over their private keys and assets, so they are not dependent on government decisions, which are sometimes so unreasonable.

Having self custody means you're in control and independent from anyone else or any entity. Users who are able to hold their own private keys, are no longer reliant on any third party who may be compelled to comply with government authorities or be forced into compliance with restrictive regulations. Most of the regulations being implemented are specifically geared toward custodial platforms because they serve as a middleman, therefore making them easier for governments to regulate. Conversely, non-custodial wallets provide individuals with complete ownership of their assets in a manner consistent with the original purpose of cryptocurrency, which is to provide a means of financial independence and personal accountability. In an environment where regulations continue to be uncertain, self-custody provides individuals with a sense of security and peace of mind over the long term.

[serjent05]

I read that the law is applied to custodian services where the owner don't touch their cryptocurrency for a long time can be claimed by the states.  It is limited to centralized services for example the exchanges.  That is when the platform can't contact the owner and there is no activity for 3 years.

I don't know if this law will be exploited by the custodial platform, since they can always use this reason to confiscate users funds if they are inactive for 3 years.  And I think this is a very greedy move by the state. 

[Stalker22]

I still find this very hard to believe because it doesn't look true at all. This should be a reason for people to stop keeping their coins on centralised exchanges.
~

What is so hard to believe about this?  Pretty much every big exchange and service has this kind of thing buried in their user agreement that no one reads.  Think about what happens to the money sitting in an online casino account thats never touched for a long period of time - its the same idea.  Only this time, instead of the company taking it, the government gets to.

I agree with the second part of your comment, though.  This is just another reason why you should never keep your money in custodial services.

[MusaPk]

Things I get from this news:
-don't live in California
-avoid socialist states
-don't use custodial services
-all that equality in the US is dogshit because what about fiat money in the bank? It's a custodial service. If I don't visit my bank account and do any bank transfers, do my fiat money gets stolen by the government after 3 years? If no, the laws aren't equal in the US. If yes, what about old people who had savings and never needed to withdraw any of it? Does the government specialize in taking away people's life savings that they worked hard to get?

If you going  for custodial services then their is every possibility that your coins can be confiscated by the owner of service provider. Bitcoin is truly a decentralised coin and as long as your coins are in your non custodial wallet, no one has the ability to move them without your permission. Government has different regulations when it comes to fiat and crypto, the government is very friendly towards the fiat but is doing every tactic to control crypto circulation in the country.

[Ivystar5]

The fact that bitcoin has a 4 years cycle which is going to make the coin or untouched bitcoin a profitable one in the next one year and it will be confisticated before the bullish period, but only if it  was bought during a bear market and kept for the next bull run which means the person or anyone can't say I will hold till the next cycle without tempering with my coins. when I say we are cooked with government involvement in bitcoin we are really cooked. but however noncustodial or anyone with overall decentralised mindset is not going to face such fate.

[yhiaali3]

We keep repeating here on the BitcoinTalk forum: "not your keys, not your coins" So, don't keep any coins on a centralized platform. If you keep your coins in a non-custodial wallet, then this decision doesn't concern you.

The government claims that this is in the best interest of citizens,😉 as it won't sell these coins but will hold them in their original form (BTC, ETH, USDC), and the owner can claim them at any time after proving their identity! I don't know how the owner will be able to prove their identity after all these years, and what complicated bureaucratic procedures they will have to go through to claim their assets, if they even manage to prove their identity.😭

[Odogwu-Blockchain]

This law will only target those who use custodial services, whether exchanges or custodial wallet providers who control keys or assets on behalf of clients. Therefore, if the wallet is inactive for three years, the government has the right to claim those assets.

Wtf,
This is absolutely a theft disguise as law by the Californian government, it makes no sense to claim what the government doesn't provide, what if the balance of asset were gotten from trading, and not governmental payout, what concerns government with a citizen's hard earned money, that's theft in my perspective.

After that, you can reclaim them.

How to reclaim what had been claimed and used by the government, if the option to do that is available, then the process won't be easy I think. But to be honest, this law is unfair, by disrespecting the whole essence of decentralization and cryptocurrency.

[tabas]

So they have passed a law that's the same for dormant accounts in the banks. I wonder if it's the same with the banks and it's not the bank that's keeping them but the government. Anyway, either of the two, it's not a good idea to keep your funds in any centralized exchanges and you're going to forget them. After a bull run and such, you check them and you've seen nothing because you've forgotten about this law but only for those residents into that area. But just apply what we always use to tell that it's never a good idea to leave your funds on exchanges.

[Ultegra134]

I read that the law is applied to custodian services where the owner don't touch their cryptocurrency for a long time can be claimed by the states.  It is limited to centralized services for example the exchanges.  That is when the platform can't contact the owner and there is no activity for 3 years.

I don't know if this law will be exploited by the custodial platform, since they can always use this reason to confiscate users funds if they are inactive for 3 years.  And I think this is a very greedy move by the state. 

It goes without saying that it wouldn't affect non-custodial wallets, would defeat the whole idea of decentralisation if it was even remotely possible for governments to simply claim your wallet. If you can't avoid using exchanges at all, which is understandable to a degree, at least don't store your money there, it has been mentioned multiple times already. It's disturbing that they can simply take over your money just because your account has been dormant; speaking as someone who had left a certain amount of money on an exchange for quite a few years, without any activity (it was over 5-6 years ago).

[Miles2006]

Definitely anything is quite possible when government is involve, they don’t care about your feelings rather they see every opportunity as a means to benefit. What exactly inspired the law, from my research the coin will be seize and then convert to cash either for community development etc. This law clearly shows how government are willing to deprive bitcoin investors from holding although why will anyone want to save for a long period of time using a centralized wallet, I find the whole thought disturbing.

[Hazink]

I love that they state that it "can" be claimed

Not that it will, but when the time comes or if they take an interest of you, they will probably do so.

Once the bill has been passed into law, they have full power to claim whatever they consider to be an unclaimed asset. It's not even as if they don't have the right before, as they can just put an allegation on any suspected asset and convert it into government-owned property. That statement" might" just mean the same thing as they will as long as you leave your coin in a place where they will access it.

[FinneysTrueVision]

It would be the equivalent of having thousands of dollars in the bank for a long period of time (in order to get some interest) and yet have all of it seized by the state because it was considered abandoned property. That is ridiculous...

The law already applies to money kept in a bank, they are just extending its scope to include cryptocurrency. This is different from asset forfeiture laws, where they can legally steal your money or property for practically any reason. With abandoned property laws it requires custodians to contact the owners before the state can take possession and the state is also required to return your funds if you or your heirs decide to reclaim them later.

Funny how some months ago Bitcoiners were celebrating when Arizona passed a bill that would have created a Bitcoin reserve, when in reality, the bill was very similar to what California is doing. https://ryan.com/about-ryan/news-and-insights/2025/arizona-digital-assets-fund

[shinratensei_]

Three years is a really short time and if I left bitcoin for three years for long term investing purpose and it got seized like that, would be ridiculous.
As always, not your keys not your coin, those hardware wallet turns out to be a worth it investment, at least better than getting your money seized like that.

The moment your money entered custodial service, it's basically not your money anymore. Just keep that in mind.

[gogarza63@hotmail.com]

I understood the abandoned property law to be used to keep our roads clear of broken-down cars or land that seems abandoned and its conditions are lowering the value of the surrounding area. Like water greed seems to always find a way. Unlike water however, Bitcoin has already found the way. It's simply a matter of choice now.

[Livingleged]

Can someone please confirm if this is real? Someone close sent me this news this morning that you can't keep holding your coins for three years straight untouched anymore, the law will claim it.



This can't be real right?  Right now I believe this is some made up nonsense, and if it's real we are all f

Anyone from California can easily confirm it, I have no one living in California but other states in USA.

Okay if it’s real how do they want to go about it are Dey going to forcefully collect once lock keys or something i know the government is so powerful to do what ever they want but it just left me wondering how they may want to go about it. can someone tell me how it’s going to be done I'm not talking about other coin stored with custodian Wallet though.

[vanesha]

Right now this really feels unreal. You’re right, this is nothing but nonsense. Assets stay where they are. So how would they even get our wallet data? We hold the seed phrase, and that means we have full rights and full control over our assets. How could they seize them? Even so, we still need to stay alert—there’s always a possibility they introduce new regulations that make things even more difficult.