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Secretary of State: 20 active digital asset registrations; committee advances expedited filings bill amid staffing dispute
Summary
Wyoming's Secretary of State reported 20 active digital-asset registrations and described heavy growth in business filings. The committee voted to sponsor an expedited-filings bill; the office requested additional staff to administer new duties.
The Wyoming Secretary of State told the select committee that the office has received 20 active digital-asset registrations since implementing rules under Senate Enrolled Act 95 (2023), and warned the committee that a bill to expedite certain business filings will increase administrative workload.
Chuck Gray, Wyoming Secretary of State, testified with his business-division director that “we have received a total of 20 registrations,” and that the office’s regulations allow a single registration to cover a family of digital assets. Colin Crossman, director of the business division, told the committee that registrations arrived as an initial bolus and now “are trickling in” at roughly one per month.
Why it matters: The registrations formalize property claims for digital assets under Wyoming law. At the same time, the secretary’s office said growth in ordinary business filings already strains staff capacity; the office is asking for added positions to administer any new expedited service.
Key details: Gray said the office processed 675,000 filings in fiscal 2024 (up from 590,000 in fiscal 2023) and recorded fiscal year 2024 revenue of about $50.4 million (up from $42.3 million in fiscal 2023). The office estimates that expediting filings requires dedicated human intervention; staff asked the committee to secure one additional full-time employee (FTE) to implement the expedited-filings function and said the broader FY2025 supplemental request included three positions.
Committee action: The committee moved to sponsor and advance a working draft, 26 LSO 11, that would authorize the Secretary of State to offer expedited processing for some business filings. Representative Feiler moved for committee sponsorship and Representative Yaden seconded; the committee adopted the working draft and then approved the measure in a roll-call voice vote on the engrossed language. The roll call recorded 6 ayes and 2 excused members.
Debate over staffing: Members of the committee and the secretary’s office debated how staffing should be provided. The secretary urged that the office must have at least one dedicated FTE to administer expedited filings; some committee members said the staffing request belongs to the budget process and not to the select committee’s sponsorship decision. The committee ultimately approved the policy draft while the staffing question remained unresolved for the session’s budget process.
Ending: The secretary said the office will continue to work with the joint corporations and appropriations committees in the interim to resolve staffing; the committee will follow up as needed and will monitor the implementation timeline if the bill advances through session.
