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Bill

SB 1170

Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council; disclosure of digital assets.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Saddam Salim

Requires Virginia ethics advisory council members to disclose digital asset holdings in conflict-of-interest filings to increase financial transparency.

Passed by indefinitely in General Laws and Technology (12-Y 2-N 1-A)
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Bill Summary · SB 1170

Legislative bill overview

SB 1170 would require members of Virginia's Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council to disclose their digital assets as part of ethics compliance requirements. The bill expands existing financial disclosure rules to include cryptocurrency, NFTs, and other digital holdings that currently fall outside standard reporting mechanisms.

Why is this important

As digital assets become increasingly prevalent in personal finances, ethics disclosure laws have not kept pace, potentially creating blind spots in conflict-of-interest detection. Updating disclosure requirements ensures elected officials and advisors have transparent holdings that could influence their voting or advisory positions on technology and financial regulation matters.

Potential points of contention

  • Definitional challenges: "Digital assets" is broad and may be difficult to define precisely in regulation, creating compliance ambiguity around what must be reported (memes, gaming items, staking rewards, etc.)
  • Privacy and security concerns: Public disclosure of cryptocurrency holdings could expose individuals to targeted theft or hacking, raising personal safety questions absent from traditional asset reporting
  • Valuation difficulty: Unlike stocks or real estate, digital asset values fluctuate rapidly and may lack standard valuation methods, complicating accurate disclosure and enforcement

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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