Authorizes fiat-collateralized stablecoins as a form of bail; directs the commissioner of taxation and finance, in conjunction with the chief justice of the unified court system and the director of the office of information technology services, to promulgate rules and regulations identifying forms of fiat-collateralized stablecoin acceptable for posting bail to establish a system for the administration of the acceptance, recording and processing of stablecoins as a means of securing bail.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7807
SPONSOR: Walker TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to authorizing
fiat-collateralized stablecoins as a form of bail; and directs the
commissioner of taxation and finance, in conjunction with the chief
justice of the unified court system and the director of the office of
information technology services, to establish a system and regulations
for the acceptance of stablecoins as bail
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To authorize cryptocurrency and stablecoins as a form of bail payment.
This bill would allow individuals to pay their pre-trial bail and bail
bonds with fiat-collateralized stablecoins; cryptocurrency.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the criminal procedure law, amends paragraph I of subdivi-
sion 1 by chapter 457, subdivision 2 amended by chapter 784 and para-
graph b of subdivision 2 amended by section 10 of part JJJ to add fiat-
collaterated stablecoins or any other form of bail as an authorized form
of payment to post a bond.
Section 2 amends paragraph c to include that if the value of the
stable-coin drops below fifty percent from the value at which bail was
posted, the court can request additional bail.
JUSTIFICATION:
Accepting stablecoins and cryptocurrency as a form of bail and bond
payment allows for lower transaction fees and faster transactions
compared to credit card transactions. Cryptocurrency is now accepted in
federal court. California's federal court has also allowed bail to be
paid in cryptocurrency. Martin Marsich was ordered to pay a $750,000
bail in bitcoin by federal judge Jaqueline Corley. Bail ensures an indi-
vidual appears at their court date.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-2024: A7024 - Referred to Codes
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day it shall
have become law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7807
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 11, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WALKER -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Codes
AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to authorizing
fiat-collateralized stablecoins as a form of bail; and directs the
commissioner of taxation and finance, in conjunction with the chief
justice of the unified court system and the director of the office of
information technology services, to establish a system and regulations
for the acceptance of stablecoins as bail
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 520.10 of the criminal procedure law, paragraph (i)
2 of subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 457 of the laws of 2005, subdivi-
3 sion 2 as amended by chapter 784 of the laws of 1972 and paragraph (b)
4 of subdivision 2 as amended by section 10 of part JJJ of chapter 59 of
5 the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
6 § 520.10 Bail and bail bonds; fixing of bail and authorized forms there-
7 of.
8 1. The only authorized forms of bail are the following:
9 (a) Cash bail.
10 (b) An insurance company bail bond.
11 (c) A secured surety bond.
12 (d) A secured appearance bond.
13 (e) A partially secured surety bond.
14 (f) A partially secured appearance bond.
15 (g) An unsecured surety bond.
16 (h) An unsecured appearance bond.
17 (i) Credit card or similar device; provided, however, that notwith-
18 standing any other provision of law, any person posting bail by credit
19 card or similar device also may be required to pay a reasonable adminis-
20 trative fee. The amount of such administrative fee and the time and
21 manner of its payment shall be in accordance with the system established
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06392-01-5
A. 7807 2
1 pursuant to [subdivision four of section 150.30 of this chapter or]
2 paragraph (j) of subdivision two of section two hundred twelve of the
3 judiciary law, as appropriate.
4 (j) Fiat-collateralized stablecoins; provided, however, that this
5 paragraph shall not be construed to compel any person, firm or corpo-
6 ration subject to the provisions of article sixty-eight of the insurance
7 law to accept stablecoins or any other cryptocurrency for the posting of
8 a bond.
9 2. The methods of fixing bail are as follows:
10 (a) A court may designate the amount of the bail without designating
11 the form or forms in which it may be posted. In such case, the bail may
12 be posted in either of the forms specified in paragraphs (g) and (h) of
13 subdivision one[;]of this section.
14 (b) The court shall direct that the bail be posted in any one of three
15 or more of the forms specified in subdivision one of this section,
16 designated in the alternative, and may designate different amounts vary-
17 ing with the forms, except that one of the forms shall be either an
18 unsecured or partially secured surety bond, as selected by the court.
19 (c) If the court directs that bail be posted as provided in paragraph
20 (j) of subdivision one of this section and the value of the stablecoins
21 falls more than fifty percent from the value of the stablecoins at the
22 time bail was posted, the court may, in its discretion, request the
23 posting of additional bail as provided in subdivision one of this
24 section.
25 § 2. The commissioner of taxation and finance, in conjunction with the
26 chief justice of the unified court system and the director of the office
27 of information technology services, or their respective designees, shall
28 promulgate rules and regulations identifying forms of fiat-collateral-
29 ized stablecoins acceptable for posting bail as provided in section one
30 of this act and shall establish a system for the administration of the
31 acceptance, recording and processing of stablecoins as a means of secur-
32 ing bail pursuant to article 520 of the criminal procedure law.
33 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
34 it shall have become a law.
