§ 34-29-104 — Digital asset custodial services

Wyoming § 34-29-104

• Jurisdiction: Wyoming
• Title 34: Property, Conveyances and Security Transactions
• Ch. 29: DIGITAL ASSETS
• Art. 1: IN GENERAL

Text

(a) A bank may provide custodial services for digital
assets consistent with this section upon providing sixty (60)
days written notice to the commissioner. If a bank elects to
provide custodial services for digital assets, it shall comply
with all provisions of this section.
(b) A bank may serve as a qualified custodian, as
specified by the United States securities and exchange
commission in 17 C.F.R. § 275.206(4)-2, or as a custodian
authorized by the United States commodity futures trading
commission or other law. In performing custodial services under
this section, a bank shall:
(i) Implement all accounting, account statement,
internal control, notice and other standards specified by
applicable state or federal law and rules for custodial
services;
(ii) Maintain information technology best practices
relating to digital assets held in custody. The commissioner may
specify required best practices by rule;
(iii) Fully comply with applicable federal anti-money
laundering, customer identification and beneficial ownership
requirements; and
(iv) Take other actions necessary to carry out this
section, which may include exercising fiduciary powers similar
to those permitted to national banks and ensuring compliance
with federal law governing digital assets classified as
commodities.
(c) A bank providing custodial services shall conform to
the audit, accounting and related requirements specified by the
commissioner and applicable law, which may include entering into
an agreement with an independent public accountant to conduct an
examination conforming to the requirements of 17 C.F.R. §
275.206(4)-2(a)(4) and (6), at the cost of the bank. An
accountant shall transmit the results of any examination to the
commissioner within one hundred twenty (120) days of the
examination and may file the results with other regulatory
agencies as their rules may provide. Material discrepancies in
an examination shall be reported to the commissioner within one
(1) day. The commissioner shall review examination results upon
receipt within a reasonable time and during any regular
examination conducted under W.S. 13-3-702.
(d) Digital assets held in custody under this section are
not liabilities or assets of the bank. A bank, or a subsidiary,
may register as an investment adviser, investment company or
broker dealer as necessary. A bank shall maintain possession or
control, as applicable, over a digital asset while in custody. A
customer shall elect, pursuant to a written agreement with the
bank, one (1) of the following relationships for each digital
asset held in custody:
(i) Custody under a bailment as a nonfungible or
fungible asset. Assets held under this paragraph shall be
strictly segregated from other assets; or
(ii) Custody pursuant to subsection (e) of this
section.
(e) If a customer makes an election under paragraph
(d)(ii) of this section, the bank may, based only on customer
instructions, undertake transactions with the digital asset. A
bank is deemed to maintain possession or control pursuant to
subsection (d) of this section by entering into an agreement
with the counterparty to a transaction which contains a time for
return of the asset and other customary terms in securities or
commodities transactions. The bank shall not be liable for any
loss suffered with respect to a transaction under this
subsection, except for liability consistent with fiduciary and
trust powers.
(f) A bank and a customer shall agree in writing regarding
the source code version the bank will use for each digital
asset, and the treatment of each asset under the Uniform
Commercial Code, title 34.1, Wyoming statutes if necessary. Any
ambiguity under this subsection shall be resolved in favor of
the customer.
(g) A bank shall provide clear, written notice to each
customer, and require written acknowledgement, of the following:
(i) Prior to the implementation of any updates,
material source code updates relating to digital assets held in
custody, except in emergencies which may include security
vulnerabilities;
(ii) The heightened risk of loss from transactions
under subsection (e) of this section;
(iii) That some risk of loss as a pro rata creditor
exists as the result of custody as a fungible asset or custody
under paragraph (d)(ii) of this section;
(iv) That custody under paragraph (d)(ii) of this
section may not result in the digital assets of the customer
being strictly segregated from other customer assets; and
(v) That the bank is not liable for losses suffered
under subsection (e) of this section, except for liability
consistent with fiduciary and trust powers.
(h) A bank and a customer shall agree in writing to a time
period within which the bank must return a digital asset held in
custody under this section. If a customer makes an election
under paragraph (d)(ii) of this section, the bank and the
customer may also agree in writing to the form in which the
digital asset shall be returned.
(j) All ancillary or subsidiary proceeds relating to
digital assets held in custody under this section shall accrue
to the benefit of the customer, except as specified by a written
agreement with the customer. The bank may elect not to collect
certain ancillary or subsidiary proceeds, as long as the
election is disclosed in writing. A customer who makes an
election under paragraph (d)(i) of this section may withdraw the
digital asset in a form that permits the collection of the
ancillary or subsidiary proceeds.
(k) A bank shall not authorize or permit rehypothecation
of digital assets under this section. The bank shall not engage
in any activity to use or exercise discretionary authority
relating to a digital asset except based on customer
instructions.
(m) A bank shall not take any action under this section
which would likely impair the solvency or the safety and
soundness of the bank, as determined by the commissioner after
considering the nature of custodial services customary in the
banking industry.
(n) Repealed by Laws 2025, ch. 150, § 3.
(o) The commissioner may adopt rules to implement this
section.
(p) A bank may provide custodial services for stablecoin
reserves, provided those custodial services are consistent with
this section and the rules and regulations of the commissioner.
(q) A supervised trust company that is chartered in this
state may provide all the services provided in this section if
it complies with the provisions of this section and the rules
and regulations of the commissioner.
(r) As used in this section:
(i) "Bank" has the meaning ascribed to it in W.S. 13-
1-101(a)(i);
(ii) "Commissioner" means the banking commissioner;
(iii) "Custodial services" means the safekeeping,
servicing and management of customer currency and digital
assets. This term includes the exercise of fiduciary and trust
powers involving the exercise of discretion, including
transactions under subsection (e) of this section.