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So far, Ohio has not seen many corporations pay their state taxes in digital currency (see sbr 12/18), but the state has not eliminated that option yet, NASBA Director-at-Large W. Michael Fritz (OH) reported to the Regional Meetings. Mr. Fritz pointed out that cryptocurrency legislation is being filed in an increasing number of states. While in 2018, cryptocurrency legislation was introduced in 17 states and signed into law in seven; in the first five months of 2019 there had been legislation introduced in 38 states and signed into law in a dozen.

Mr. Fritz pointed to a survey released by Deloitte in May 2019 that found 83 percent of the 1,386 senior executives polled in a dozen different countries see a “compelling business case for using blockchain technology.” Forty percent of the respondents said they plan to invest $5,000,000 or more in blockchain in the coming year.

How will all this impact State Boards? Mr. Fritz offered three examples:

1. State laws are being enacted that will allow payments to be made with cryptocurrency.
2. States will be allowing business reporting by blockchain.
3. Boards will need to consider what resource they will need to investigate attestation matters such as valuation, existence and completeness.

“If you look at blockchain today, it is where the internet was 20 years ago,” Mr. Fritz observed. “It is going to expand and require auditors and State Boards to know what they have.”