This can't be real

[KiaKia]

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.

[_act_]

Yes, it has been like that since few months ago.

This news was in June when the bill was passed
https://www.fintechweekly.com/magazine/articles/california-crypto-wallet-seizure-bill-ab1052
https://www.altcoinbuzz.io/cryptocurrency-news/california-to-seize-idle-bitcoin-after-3-years/
https://www.binance.com/en/square/post/25215143701441

Yes, under California's new law (Senate Bill 822, signed October 2025), idle cryptocurrency on custodial platforms like exchanges can be claimed by the state as unclaimed property after three years of no activity, but critically, the state will now hold it in its original crypto form (like Bitcoin), not convert it to cash, allowing it to retain potential value.

Not your key not your coin.

If you use noncustodial wallet, you will not be affected.

[Nwada001]

This is an attack on those who believe in custodial service to safeguard their coins for them, just like the few news stories of people who hold coins on exchanges, forget about it, and wake up after so many years, reset their password, and claim back their wealth. This time you will be making the state richer. Won't you hold for long? Use self-custody and protect your key to the wallet.

[fikrett]

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.

[Die_empty]

This is an attack on those who believe in custodial service to safeguard their coins for them, just like the few news stories of people who hold coins on exchanges, forget about it, and wake up after so many years, reset their password, and claim back their wealth. This time you will be making the state richer. Won't you hold for long? Use self-custody and protect your key to the wallet.

This is an invasion of privacy since these exchanges would give periodic reports to the government regarding dormant accounts. Anyway, people who keep money in centralized platforms have made up their mind to put themselves under government control. Their intention is to take control of abandoned crypto assets in these exchanges. Many accounts have unclaimed assets because there are no heirs to claim these assets. Use a non-custodian wallet or be ready to keep your account active to avoid losing your funds.

[Hispo]

Welp... this it has been confirmed this is actually a thing I won't be holding a single satoshi on custodial exchanges for a long period of time anymore.
Seriously, this is the wackiest thing I have read about the government of california in a long time. 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...

It only shows how desperate some locals governments in the USA are for extra income from people who were smart enough to acquire cryptocurrencies in the early days if Bitcoin and Ethereum...

Hopefully this will help more people to realize they need to move their holdings off exchanges and use only air tight hardware wallets.   

[betswift]

I already see some people being oblivous to this fact and getting rekt due to it.

If only they knew that their custody is their to secure.. Not those higher entities in robes and suits.

[IsraelK]

Welp... this it has been confirmed this is actually a thing I won't be holding a single satoshi on custodial exchanges for a long period of time anymore.
Seriously, this is the wackiest thing I have read about the government of california in a long time. 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...

It only shows how desperate some locals governments in the USA are for extra income from people who were smart enough to acquire cryptocurrencies in the early days if Bitcoin and Ethereum...

Hopefully this will help more people to realize they need to move their holdings off exchanges and use only air tight hardware wallets.   

Agreed. This is a textbook example of why self-custody matters. Once coins sit on an exchange, they’re no longer truly yours—they’re subject to the exchange’s policies and the government’s reach. If anything, this should be a wake-up call for long-term holders: convenience is temporary, ownership is not.

[tbct_mt2]

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.

Years ago when I joined crypto market with Poloniex exchange, I remember that Poloniex had similar terms on inactive accounts and inactive funds, but it was only possibly of seizure but nothing like 100% will be seized.

If Poloniex had that term in 2017, 2018 I think other cryrptocurrency exchanges possibly had similar terms.

Not your key not your coin.

If you use noncustodial wallet, you will not be affected.

It's not your key, it's not your coin. Storing funds on centralized exchanges is always very risky.
Reminder: do not keep your money in online accounts.

Even in 2017 and 2018, Poloniex had that term but there was no official legal bill on this thing so the bill in California is actually severe. Anyway, even without this bill, we all know that it's never recommended to store fund or big fund on centralized exchanges. If we do that, it's terrible to leave our coins there a long time (means inactive in this bill), and if we no longer plan trading, let's withdraw coins immediately for avoiding any accidents of that exchange and also risk of fund seizure.

[snowpega]

<....>
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
<.....>

Yeah, that's big nonsense in my point of view. This is giving me a strange vibe if I compare this to real-time assets that exist in the physical state. Like if you have land and you are holding it for over 3 years, the law will claim it, and in this same way, if one bought gold three years ago, after the passage of three years, the law will claim it. Then obviously, this really makes no sense near me. The reason why I am saying this is because they are our assets that should stay in our custody until we want them to hold.

Although there can be a law for making a tax framework, which is also not acceptable at this moment, but this can get a little space in the crypto industry, but taking over some assets in this way really makes no sense. If this is going to be implemented in a strict way, then I believe no one will invest for long-term purposes in the state of California. CMIIW!

[Alpha Marine]

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. In a non-custodial wallet, nobody would be able to take your money out, even if it has remained dormant for 500 years.
I hope somebody out there is going to see this and realise that it's time to move their coins to a non-custodial wallet, even though the news is not true.
I have never seen the appeal of holding funds in a CEX. As long as you keep your seed phrase well and don't expose yourself to hacks and scams, there are no downsides to self-custody.

[FortuneFollower]

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. In a non-custodial wallet, nobody would be able to take your money out, even if it has remained dormant for 500 years.
I hope somebody out there is going to see this and realise that it's time to move their coins to a non-custodial wallet, even though the news is not true.
I have never seen the appeal of holding funds in a CEX. As long as you keep your seed phrase well and don't expose yourself to hacks and scams, there are no downsides to self-custody.

That's the gist of it, but I do think people getting in trouble due to such a law would be not as knowledgeable to gather enough info on the matter.

It would be too late for them and the funds they would put in centralized services.

Only after initial loss would they be able to understand what happened and move on with the right mindset.. but I hope there will be not so many cases like that.

[Spaceman1000$]

This are some of the draconian laws that are used by state authority to steal people's assets, this is more like saying stop holding your coins with CEX for long period. But for such kind of law to be passed, what where the law makers thinking, is it that they don't believe people can hold their coins for more than three years, it's more like saying a Bank account that is not active for long period of time will be tempered with by the government.

[macson]

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. After that, you can reclaim them.

This law is a bit ridiculous, but it's the regulation the government introduced, arguing that these wallets are dormant and their assets are like unclaimed property. Therefore, the government needs to regulate this so providers don't claim and sell their users' assets if they disappear or die.

The solution to this is self-custody, as the government won't be able to intervene in assets held in non-custodial wallets.

[Free Market Capitalist]

This can't be real right?

It can, if the governor of that state is a woke socialist, that is, a covert communist.

Not your key not your coin.

If you use noncustodial wallet, you will not be affected.

It seems that people forget that Bitcoin was created in opposition to that. It was created so that you could hold wealth in your hands and it couldn't be confiscated, as is happening in this case and many others where politicians want to confiscate more and more for supposedly good causes.

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

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.

If you're using a custodial wallet, then know that this will directly affect you, because of the government regulations, but if you're using a non custodial wallet, this will not affect you because government regulations does not extend to non custodial wallet, the choice is now ours, except our country is not part of affected once where this has been implemented

[MArsland]

But with this warning, it has made everyone realize that they should not hold assets on exchanges for too long. I think this is good although it sounds bad but at least people realize how important it is to hold long-term assets in Cold wallet not in wallets that exchanges have. In my country there is no regulation like this, and even if it were to be implemented, I wouldn't have a problem because I'm used to storing it in a cold wallet.

[Hispo]

It can, if the governor of that state is a woke socialist, that is, a covert communist.
...

there is something I don't get though.
On one hand, I see people on the internet (most of them from the United States) who say California is pretty much a socialist hellhole where people in charge are deranged communist which are anti-american and anti-capitalist and keep the people of the state living in inhumane conditions, and so on... But on the other hand, California is home of the biggest and wealthiest companies in the United States (Apple being the most obvious example), also california is one of the States with the highest incomes in north america. I think California gets more money than Canada.

So... which of those versions is the truth? Is california a socialist hell-hole or is it actually a rich state which harbors the biggest examples of capitalism of the united states, only compared to New York?

[LGD2Business]

This is one of the most absurd laws I've ever seen. We don't say don't keep your coins on exchanges for nothing. No one can take the Bitcoin in your own wallet. But if you keep them on an exchange, they can seize your assets with such ridiculous decisions. You can't trust any government. The decisions they make are worse than those of banks. They're basically saying, "Don't forget your coins on exchanges". The best option is to store every coin in your own wallet. This ridiculous decision may not affect anyone here in the forum, but the average Joe could suffer losses because of it.

[Felicity_Tide]

~snip

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

I can't confirm this, and at the same time, this doesn't surprise me either. I already know that the government of any nation or state can go nuts at some point, and see the need to implement a law that automatically claims what doesn't belongs to them. Centralization has always been their tool to exercise such power, so I'm not surprised that those who don't buy and stick with the "Not your keys... not your coins" idea would end up being punished. A lot of holders can easily avoid all these drama by just doing what's right. But I guess they prefer to make life a bit tougher for themselves.