The California State Meeting has unanimously handed AB 1180, a invoice that permits state companies to start accepting Bitcoin and different digital belongings as fee for sure regulatory charges.
Authored by Assemblymember Avelino Valencia (D-Anaheim), the laws cleared the Meeting ground on June 3 with a decisive 78–0 vote (2 NV) and is now below overview by the Senate Guidelines Committee.
If enacted, the invoice would require California’s Division of Monetary Safety and Innovation to develop guidelines permitting companies regulated below the state’s Digital Monetary Property Legislation to pay licensing and examination charges utilizing digital belongings. The pilot program would launch on July 1, 2026, and run by way of January 1, 2031.
“AB 1180 places California on the forefront of digital-asset innovation,” Valencia stated in an earlier committee listening to. “It should function a blueprint for statewide integration.”
Conserving tempo with the crypto-curious states
California’s push follows within the footsteps of Colorado, Utah, and Louisiana, which already settle for crypto funds for sure authorities companies.
Colorado, for instance, permits crypto tax funds by way of PayPal’s service, charging customers a flat $1 plus 1.83% per transaction.
Just like that mannequin, California’s system would convert digital funds into U.S. {dollars} upon receipt, avoiding the state’s direct publicity to crypto market volatility.
This system is designed as a five-year testbed. By January 2028, DFPI should submit an interim report evaluating the system’s effectiveness, operational prices, fraud or abuse dangers, and public suggestions.
If profitable, the pilot may pave the way in which for broader crypto acceptance throughout different state companies.
Strategic implications for California’s crypto ecosystem
The invoice’s passage is especially related to the state’s burgeoning crypto sector. California is residence to main blockchain firms resembling Ripple, Solana Labs, and Kraken, lots of which should navigate complicated and expensive regulatory licensing processes.
By enabling crypto charge funds, the state could streamline compliance for these corporations and sign its openness to technological innovation in monetary companies.
Crypto fee processors like BitPay, Coinbase Commerce, and PayPal at the moment are potential contenders for a profitable state contract. The precise supplier can be decided by way of a procurement course of led by DFPI.
Nevertheless, not everyone seems to be on board. Shopper advocacy teams and financial watchdogs have raised issues about transaction charges, volatility, and the environmental footprint of crypto mining. Legislators have hinted that the Senate would possibly introduce consumer-protection amendments, resembling charge caps or refund mechanisms, to handle these dangers.
Political momentum for crypto rights
The invoice is a part of a broader legislative push by Valencia, who can also be advancing AB 1052, a so-called “Bitcoin Rights” invoice that goals to enshrine protections for self-custody, node operation, and peer-to-peer transactions in state legislation. Backed by nationwide crypto advocacy group Satoshi Motion Fund, the measure positions California as a counterweight to federal regulatory ambiguity.
“If Bitcoin rights move right here, they’ll move anyplace,” stated Dennis Porter, CEO of the Satoshi Motion Fund, in an interview with Politico.
The Senate is anticipated to take up AB 1180 later this summer time. If it passes and is signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, the DFPI will start creating the crypto fee system in 2026, with an eye fixed towards statewide deployment by the last decade’s finish.
The experiment could properly form the way forward for public finance, not solely in California however nationwide. As Valencia put it, “California can’t afford to fall behind.”
