New Hampshire may be among the bitcoin friendly states again soon, House Bill 436, a bill which amends the states money transmission laws, was past by the New Hampshire senate and now moves to Governor Chris Sununu's office for approval.
If the bill is signed by Governor Sununu, the law would go into affect around June 26th. The Governor has 5 days (excluding Sunday) to review and consider the amendments during which time he can veto or sign the bill.
The bill also a definition of virtual currency to read:
“Virtual currency” means a digital representation of value that can be digitally traded and functions as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, or a store of value but does not have legal tender status as recognized by the United States government.
This bill additionally amends RSA 399-G:3, VII (exemptions) to read:
Persons conducting business using transactions conducted in whole or in part in virtual currency
Which if passed, will give New Hampshire virtual currency businesses an exemption from the requirement of a state money transmitters license.
However, it doesn't give a pass to all businesses. New Hampshire is looking to adopt the North Carolina approach to virtual currency regulation. The bill also amends RSA 399-G:1, XVI(b), which is the definition of money transmission, to read:
XVI. "Money transmission'' means: (a) Engaging in the business of selling or issuing payment instruments or stored value; or (b) Receiving currency or monetary value for transmission to another location, including maintaining control of virtual currency on behalf of others.
Thus, some ATM models, exchanges, mining companies, wallet services, etc... are certainly affected and may still require a license. The term maintaining control is rather broad and could lead to some potential issues with other services as well.
This is very similar to the current law in North Carolina.
Regardless, this is a step in the right direction and should be positive for most concerned parties over the prohibitive law that went into affect on January 1st 2016 restricting virtual currency transactions.
An approval (or veto) is expected on April 26th.
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