A 6515 New York Assembly · 2025 Regular Session

Establishes certain offenses relating to crypto fraud

Bill A 6515 establishes new criminal offenses related to fraud in the cryptocurrency market, directly affecting individuals and entities involved in virtual token transactions. It defines and criminalizes three specific types of fraud: virtual token fraud, illegal rug pulls, and private key fraud. An "illegal rug pull" occurs when a virtual token developer makes false representations about a token and then abandons the project or sells a significant portion of their tokens, causing substantial loss. "Private key fraud" makes it illegal to obtain, disclose, or misuse another person's private cryptographic key without their explicit, affirmative consent. Violators of these provisions could face civil fines of up to five million dollars (or twenty-five million for non-natural persons) and imprisonment for up to twenty years.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Mar 5, 2025 Last action Jan 7, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

A6515 → A6515A · 5 edits
MODERATE
The bill was amended to update definitions of virtual tokens and stablecoins, add new definitions for developer, rug pull, and blockchain, and reorganize the article structure. These changes matter because they clarify what constitutes a virtual token versus a stablecoin, define who counts as a developer for legal purposes, and establish specific criteria for what constitutes a 'rug pull' fraud scheme.
Scope change
The bill's scope was expanded by adding new definitions and clarifying existing ones to better address crypto-related fraud.
DEFINITION

Changed definition of 'virtual tokens' from security tokens and stablecoins to digital assets on a blockchain, and removed the separate 'stablecoin' definition.

Added new definition of 'developer' to include anyone with significant influence or control over token creation, design, or functionality, while excluding passive investors and open-source contributors.

Added new definition of 'rug pull' to specify fraudulent abandonment of projects or material misrepresentations that cause substantial token value loss.

Added new definition of 'blockchain' to describe it as a cryptographically secured digital ledger with consensus-based verification.

Added new definitions for 'fungible token', 'own/ownership', 'wallet', and 'burning' to clarify technical terms used in the law.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
4
Key actions
2
Committee
2
Amendments
2
Jan 7, 2026
Committee
REFERRED TO CODES
lower
Apr 23, 2025
Lower · Passed
PRINT NUMBER 6515A
lower
Apr 23, 2025
Lower · Passed
AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO CODES
lower
Mar 5, 2025
Committee
REFERRED TO CODES
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Clyde Vanel
Clyde Vanel
DDemocratic
NY
33