Legal Seminar, Denver, CO

Proposals:

Illinois is considering a similar proposal with the oversight held by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, and in Connecticut , the legislature is considering an “Insurrect Regulatory Sandbox” to be overseen by the state Insurance Commissioner.

Blockchain Technology

Several states have introduced bills to study and/or authorize the use of blockchain technology for both government and corporate record keeping including California, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, Tennessee and Puerto Rico. (Also, see below under Money Transmission for related Wyoming legislation.)

Enactments:

Arizona (Ch. 122) Amends the corporations law to specify that the terms “writing” and “written” include blockchain technology for purposes of corporate regulation. [In 2017, Arizona added a new section to the laws regulating electronic transactions to authorize the use of signatures and records secured by blockchain technology. “Blockchain technology” is defined as distributed ledger technology that uses a distributed, decentralized, shared and replicated ledger, which may be public or private, permissioned or permissionless, or driven by tokenized crypto economics or tokenless. The data on the ledger is protected with cryptography, is immutable and auditable and provides an uncensored truth.] Colorado (Executive Order) Governor Hickenlooper has created a Council for the Advancement of Blockchain Technology Use to develop recommendations for a legal framework to support the use of blockchain technology and protect consumers affected by it. Connecticut (Ch. 8) Establishes the Connecticut Blockchain Working Group to develop a plan for fostering the expansion of the blockchain industry in the state. The group must report to the legislature by January 1, 2019. [Effective June 6, 2018] Vermont (Act 205) Among other things, directs the Department of Financial Regulation to review the potential application of blockchain technology to the provision of insurance and banking and consider areas for potential adoption and any necessary regulatory changes. A report must be submitted to the Legislature by January 15, 2019 (a similar report has been requested regarding the use of blockchain technology for management of public records). The law also adds a new chapter to permit the creation of blockchain-based limited liability companies for LLCs utilizing blockchain technology for a material portion of its business activities. The law defines “blockchain” as a cryptographically secured, chronological, and decentralized consensus ledger or consensus database maintained via Internet, peer-to-peer network, or other interaction. [Effective July 1, 2018]