The Senate Finance Committee adopted a committee substitute for Senate Bill 86 to modernize Alaska’s money-transmission law to cover virtual currency and related products and to update regulatory authority and penalties.

Sponsor Sen. Jesse Kiel described the measure as updating laws that predate cryptocurrencies and other stored‑value products so the Division of Banking and Securities can oversee money transmitters, stored‑value providers and virtual‑currency custodians and verify an entity holds the assets customers entrust to it. Committee staff summarized the substitute as deleting redundant language, clarifying the records subject to examination, streamlining wording for consistency, increasing maximum civil penalties to align with mortgage licensing statutes, adding transitional regulatory authority and updating deadlines for adopting regulations.

Senator Denton moved to adopt the committee substitute; after staff explanation objections were removed and the substitute was adopted. Senator Stedman then moved the substitute from committee with attached and forthcoming fiscal notes and individual recommendations; the motion carried without recorded objection and the bill was referred to the Rules Committee for further consideration.

The committee record does not show roll‑call tally counts for the motions; committee chairs and staff indicated the substitute is intended as a safety‑and‑soundness update and does not favor particular technologies.