(Carolina Journal) – State regulatory framework for banks, credit unions and stablecoin issuers seeking to operate in the digital asset or cryptocurrency space has been proposed in the North Carolina General Assembly.

NC Digital Asset and Stablecoin Act, known also as House Bill 1029, would authorize state-chartered financial institutions to provide digital asset custody, staking, and transaction services, while also creating licensing and oversight rules for payment stablecoin issuers.

The bill is sponsored by Reps. Allen Chesser, R-Nash; David Willis, R-Union; Stephen Ross, R-Alamance; and Mike Schietzelt, R-Wake. The bill passed the House last week after clearing second reading in a 115-0 vote.

Under the bill, banks and credit unions would be allowed to custody digital assets for customers, facilitate digital asset transactions, and provide staking services.

Supporters, such as the North Carolina Blockchain + AI Initiative, more commonly known as NCB+AI, praised the bill.

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“House passage of H1029 is a major step forward for North Carolina’s digital asset economy,” NCB+AI told Carolina Journal in a statement. “This bill gives state-chartered banks and credit unions a clear path to provide custody, staking, and transaction services while requiring strong reserves, audits, disclosures, cybersecurity standards, and consumer protections. Representatives Chesser, Willis, Ross, Schietzelt, and the House Select Committee deserve real credit for advancing a serious framework that protects consumers, supports responsible innovation, and keeps North Carolina at the forefront of digital finance.”

The measure includes consumer-protection provisions. Banks and credit unions offering custody services would have to enter into written agreements with customers and disclose that digital assets are not bank deposits and are not insured by the FDIC or NCUA. Institutions would also have to maintain 100% reserves of each type of digital asset owed to customers and undergo annual independent audits.

The bill would also allow customers to stake their digital assets. Staking rewards would belong to the customer, minus disclosed fees. Institutions would be required to manage risks tied to staking, including cybersecurity, operational failures, lock-up periods, and slashing, which occurs when staked assets are penalized under blockchain rules.

Under the bill, the state treasurer would be allowed to hold, liquidate or stake unclaimed digital assets. First-term Republican state Treasurer Brad Briner said the measure reflects a need to update state banking policy as digital assets become more common.

“As a state, we need to modernize our way of thinking when it comes to banking, while at the same time both complying with federal mandates in the GENIUS Act and embracing the needs of North Carolina innovators,” Briner told Carolina Journal.

The second major portion of the bill would create a state licensing system for payment stablecoin issuers.

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Under the legislation, no person could issue, circulate, offer or redeem a payment stablecoin in North Carolina unless they qualify as a permitted payment stablecoin issuer.

The bill ties the state framework to the federal GENIUS Act and would allow certain federally qualified or out-of-state qualified issuers to operate in North Carolina under specified notice and reciprocity rules.

The bill would require stablecoin issuers to maintain reserves, redeem stablecoins at par value, disclose fees, publish monthly reports, obtain annual reserve examinations, maintain anti-money laundering and customer identification programs, comply with sanctions rules, and notify the commissioner of banks of certain federal enforcement actions.

The stablecoin framework would take effect no earlier than January or 120 days after federal regulators issue final regulations under the GENIUS Act.

What’s Being Sold

According to the Stack’s Bowers Galleries announcement shared with Bitcoin.com News, the token is graded MS-66 by the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS). Only 15 examples exist at that grade. Just 11 coins have been graded finer, all at MS-67. The token remains funded, meaning the 0.5 BTC loaded onto the blockchain at creation is still intact and redeemable.

The coin was produced by Mike Caldwell, a Utah-based software engineer who began minting the Casascius series in 2011. Each physical coin holds a private key beneath a tamper-evident hologram, with real bitcoin loaded onchain at the time of minting.

Why Casascius Coins Are Scarce

Caldwell halted production after regulators flagged the operation as a potential unlicensed money transmission business in 2013. The short production window left a finite supply. Attrition has narrowed that supply further: some owners have “peeled” their coins to claim the bitcoin, destroying the collectible and erasing its numismatic value in the process. Funded examples in high grades are now rare by any measure.

The Auction Context

The June 18 sale is not a one-lot showcase. Stack’s Bowers has assembled more than 120 crypto collectibles with a combined intrinsic value exceeding $500,000. The sale includes coins from the Casascius, BTCC, and Lealana series, alongside lower-mintage modern issues from producers including Mybits, Satori, Denarium, Ballet, and Freedom Bitcoin.

The auction also marks the firm’s first offering of crypto trading cards from Topps’ Allen and Ginter series, a crossover expected to draw interest from sports card collectors who track that product line separately from the crypto space.

Early Bitcoin Magazine issues round out the sale, including a copy of Issue No. 1 and a consecutive run of Issues 9 through 15.

Who’s Behind the Gavel

Stack’s Bowers Galleries has operated for more than 90 years and is a wholly owned subsidiary of A-Mark Precious Metals Inc. (Nasdaq: AMRK), which acquired parent company Spectrum Group International in early 2025 for $92 million. The firm is a PCGS Authorized Dealer, a member of the Professional Numismatists Guild, and the official auctioneer for major numismatic events, including ANA World’s Fair of Money conventions.

“American coinage and commerce have always been a mirror to the nation’s journey toward liberty and success,” James McCartney, Director of Numismatics at Stack’s Bowers Galleries, remarked.

The Stack’s Bowers Galleries executive added:

“There is no greater context in which to offer this historic Fourth of July funded 0.5 bitcoin.”

What Buyers Should Know

Bidders should account for buyer’s premiums, which typically run above 20% at premium auction houses. The token’s collectible value operates separately from its bitcoin spot value, and both factors are relevant to the final price. The auction is open for bidding through the Stack’s Bowers platform.

The firm is also accepting consignments for its Summer 2026 Global Showcase Auction, which will hold in-person previews at the ANA World’s Fair of Money in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Specialists will also be available at the FUN Show in Orlando, Florida, running July 9 through 11.

With America’s 250th anniversary two weeks out and bitcoin trading actively, the timing places a 13-year-old physical token at an intersection that few collectibles have occupied before. Whether that intersection holds lasting value is a question the market will answer on Thursday.

A $13 Billion Wipeout in Days

Binance Research reported that April’s decentralized finance ( DeFi) exploits triggered around $13 billion in outflows, draining total value locked (TVL) across lending markets and decentralized exchanges. The flight pushed the onchain leverage ratio to about 38%, a reading the firm said marks a return to 2021 levels all while showcasing a massive decline in investor confidence.

The outflows can largely be traced back to a cluster of attacks, the largest of which struck liquid- staking protocol KelpDAO. Bitcoin.com News reported that KelpDAO had slammed Layerzero after a roughly $300 million exploit, later shifting its rsETH token to Chainlink’s cross-chain protocol, CCIP, in response.

The breach also rattled the wider ecosystem with lending protocol Aave battling a withdrawal crisis as depositors rushed for the exits. Confidence cracked further when Aave suffered a 44% monthly drop in value locked and outflows spread to neighboring protocols.

The attack’s mechanics unearthed a growing cross-chain threat with Layerzero, most recently, disclosing a remote procedure call (RPC) poisoning incident linked to the $292 million KelpDAO hack, in which attackers corrupted the data feeding the bridge’s verification network.

A Record Month for Hacks

April stood out even in a sector accustomed to breaches as industry trackers counted more than 20 separate exploits during the month, making it one of the most-hacked stretches on record. Aave alone saw billions in deposits exit within 48 hours, and several protocols paused certain operations as trust eroded.

Even then, the sector has shown resilience, with several protocols migrating cross-chain messaging to alternative providers and tightening verification. Binance Research and other analysts have argued that DeFi is evolving, citing the speed at which liquidity has historically returned as confidence has stabilized.

The 38% leverage reading is the figure to watch next, given that a return toward 2021 levels could mean the system has deleveraged sharply (potentially reducing the risk of forced liquidations and signaling diminished risk appetite). In any case, whether deposits rebuild from here will determine if April marked a temporary shock or a longer reset for onchain finance.