PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Jan 3, 2025
Keep Your Coins Act of 2025
This bill prohibits federal agencies from restricting a person's use of convertible virtual currency for their own purposes or to conduct transactions through a self-hosted wallet.
People & committees
Rep. Davidson, Warren [R-OH-8] · R–OH
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Sep 19, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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Analyze H.R.148 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.148 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-01-03 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed Keep Your Coins Act of 2025 would bar federal agency heads from restricting covered users’ use of certain virtual currencies for their own purposes. It would also protect those users’ ability to hold and control digital assets themselves and transact for lawful purposes. Coverage centers on users who obtain virtual currency to buy goods or services on their own behalf.
This Act may be cited as the Keep Your Coins Act of 2025.
The head of a Federal agency may not prohibit, restrict, or otherwise impair the ability of a covered user to— (1) use convertible virtual currency or its equivalent for such user’s own purposes, such as to purchase real or virtual goods and services for the user’s own use; or (2) self-custody digital assets using a self-hosted wallet or other means to conduct transactions for any lawful purpose.
The term covered user means a person that obtains convertible virtual currency to purchase goods or services on that person’s own behalf, without regard to the method in which such covered user obtained such convertible virtual currency.
Section 2 would prohibit federal agency heads from blocking, restricting, or otherwise impairing covered users’ personal use of convertible virtual currency or its equivalent. Buying real or virtual goods and services for their own use is an example of protected use.
The head of a Federal agency may not prohibit, restrict, or otherwise impair the ability of a covered user to— (1) use convertible virtual currency or its equivalent for such user’s own purposes, such as to purchase real or virtual goods and services for the user’s own use;
The proposed restriction on federal agency heads would also protect self-custody—holding and controlling digital assets oneself—through a self-hosted wallet or other means to conduct transactions for any lawful purpose. A self-hosted wallet is a digital interface that secures and transfers convertible virtual currency while leaving its owner in independent control.
The head of a Federal agency may not prohibit, restrict, or otherwise impair the ability of a covered user to—
(2) self-custody digital assets using a self-hosted wallet or other means to conduct transactions for any lawful purpose.
The term self-hosted wallet means a digital interface— (A) used to secure and transfer convertible virtual currency; and (B) under which the owner of convertible virtual currency retains independent control over such convertible virtual currency that is secured by such digital interface.
A covered user would be a person who obtains convertible virtual currency to purchase goods or services on that person’s own behalf. The definition applies regardless of how the person obtained the currency.
The term covered user means a person that obtains convertible virtual currency to purchase goods or services on that person’s own behalf, without regard to the method in which such covered user obtained such convertible virtual currency.
The bill defines convertible virtual currency as a medium of exchange—a means of paying—that either has an equivalent value as currency or acts as a substitute for currency. The substitute need not have all the attributes of currency, including legal tender status, under the referenced federal regulation or its successor.
The term convertible virtual currency means a medium of exchange that— (A) has an equivalent value as currency (as defined in section 1010.100 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations)); or (B) acts as a substitute for currency but may not possess all the attributes (including legal tender status) specified under such section 1010.100 (or successor regulations).
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated September 19, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Financial Services on January 3, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2026-09-19T23:32:25Z. 2025-01-03: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. 2025-01-03: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-01-03. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow preferential carve-out or special exemption was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. Its generally defined user protections do not alone constitute targeted benefits. This conclusion does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Sep 19, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI