Delaware Digital Asset Trust Company Amendments

SS 1 for SB 16 would amend Title 5 of the Delaware Code, which governs banks and trust companies. The bill would add definitions for “Digital Asset” and “Virtual Currency” to the Banking Code. “Digital Asset” would cover digital representations of value recorded on a cryptographically secured distributed ledger or similar technology, including virtual currency. The bill would also exclude certain closed-loop rewards points and online game value from the virtual currency definition.

The digital asset provisions are narrow but important for custody and fiduciary administration. Sections amending 5 Del. C. §§ 761 and 1661 would provide that “personal property” includes digital assets for purposes of bank and savings-bank fiduciary powers. In editorial terms, the bill is directed at the legal capacity of Delaware-chartered institutions to hold and administer digital assets as fiduciary property; it is not a consumer-facing trading authorization, tax rule, or investment product approval.

The proposed amendments also focus on trust-company structure. The bill would remove an existing limited-purpose trust company restriction tied to attracting customers from the general public to the substantial detriment of existing Delaware banks or trust companies. It would add definitions for Delaware state trust companies, out-of-state trust companies, out-of-state state trust companies, out-of-state national trust banks, and trust companies for the interstate merger and conversion subchapter.

SS 1 for SB 16 would authorize a Delaware state trust company, with prior written approval from the State Bank Commissioner, to maintain branch offices, trust offices, or other places of business outside Delaware when the Delaware state trust company is the resulting entity in an interstate merger or conversion. It would also add conversion pathways for out-of-state state banks and out-of-state trust companies into Delaware state banks or limited purpose trust companies, with a 30-day deemed-approval mechanism after a completed application unless subsection-specific conditions apply.

The bill would expand the State Bank Commissioner’s role in several ways. It would authorize procurement of additional consulting, legal, technical, and professional services and would permit the Commissioner to allow banks and trust companies with all or fewer than all powers conferred by Title 5. It would also allow different certificate-of-public-convenience application forms based on the risks of proposed activities. These provisions matter for crypto law tracking because implementation details may depend on future Commissioner rules, forms, and notices if the bill is enacted.

The legislative status remains unsettled. The Delaware General Assembly’s bill page lists SS 1 for SB 16 in House Appropriations as of May 5, 2026. The Senate Democrats’ April 23, 2026 release states that the Senate passed SB 16(S) and described the substitute as adding a two-thirds vote clarification and implementation timing language. Senate Amendment 1, which passed on April 23, 2026, clarifies what an out-of-state state bank or out-of-state state trust company must file when applying for a conversion charter.

If enacted in its current form, Sections 1 through 4 and Sections 6 through 23 would be effective immediately. Section 5 would also be effective immediately but implemented at the earlier of one year after enactment or publication of a State Banking Commissioner notice that final regulations have been promulgated. Because the bill had not been enacted as of this profile’s verification date, no enacted date or operative effective date should be populated.