Allen Spotlights Blockchain Laws

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State Board Report

November

States that have already passed laws and/or commenced studies pertaining to blockchain were pointed out by NASBA outside legal counsel Noel Allen. These included:

Vermont – “Blockchain enabling” law (2015, 2016, 2017);
Hawaii – Legislation to establish blockchain technology and digital currency working group (February 2017);
Arizona – “Blockchain Technology” law (March 2017);
Illinois – “Legislative Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Task Force” (March 2017);
Maine – Study using blockchain technology in conjunction with paper ballots in elections (March 2017);
Nevada – Law related to use of blockchain technology (March 2017);
Delaware – Law to allow use of distributed ledgers or blockchain for corporate records (July 2017);
Arizona – Law prohibiting use of “electronic firearm tracking technology” (August 2017).

Mr. Allen added that there is other associated legislation and/or rulemaking activity in progress in California, New York, North Carolina and North Dakota. He predicted there will be public protection challenges. For example, where there is no single place the information is stored, which state laws are going to apply? Is working with this data even the “practice of public accountancy” — and does a State Board have jurisdiction over it? He cited two recent cases involving blockchain: U.S. v. Ulbricht (2nd Cir. 2017) in which the FBI used blockchain to see how a drug trafficker paid transactions in bitcoins; and IN re Dole Food (DE Chancery Ct 2017) where it was decided that blockchain could be used to determine where all the shareholders in the class action are.