North Carolina Senate pushes for blockchain legalization, IBM shows support

Representatives from the blockchain industry appeared at the Senate Finance Committee (SFC) meeting in North Carolina, USA yesterday, and jointly called on the government to write the application of blockchain technology into law. They believe that legalizing this technology will be very beneficial to the development of the state.

At the heart of the discussion is a bill to amend the state’s Money Transmitters Act ^[1] , which was enacted by the North Carolina Banking Commission (NCCOB) last December.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Rick Gunn, is Senate Bill 680, which changes the definition of money transmitters to include any entity that controls virtual currency. The bill also proposes tax exemptions for non-financial blockchain service providers and other non-traditional money transmitters in other industries.

Congressman Gunn spoke at the meeting, noting that the introduction of this bill heralds the arrival of the era of virtual currency and virtual currency technology in North Carolina.

We all know that there is a growing community of virtual currency transfer service providers. This is an innovative area and I think the government has a responsibility to help them grow.

The blockchain industry representatives who participated in the meeting included the Chamber of Digital Commerce, IBM, and the law firm Perkins Coie. The content of the meeting involved the requirements for money service providers and the legal status of digital currencies, and proposed that the North Carolina government should actively become a supporter and leader in the field of technological innovation.

Perianne Boring, president of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, said the bill is broad and will be a boon to the blockchain industry in North Carolina.

Boring further stated that this bill set an example for other states in the United States. If they want to regulate the blockchain industry, they must know one thing - cooperation is always better than control.

I think this bill is worthy of praise, even better than New York's policy. This is the government's management attitude towards emerging technologies.

Bill No. 680 must be passed by the Senate before it can officially take effect.

The bill seeks to provide virtual currency processing solutions for consumer-facing businesses, but IT giant IBM has also proposed other potential business use cases brought about by the bill.

Jerry Cuomo, vice president of IBM's blockchain technology department, said that IBM has been committed to popularizing the concept and application of blockchain technology, and this bill is of great significance in promoting the awareness of blockchain technology.

Virtual currency is a type of digital asset. This type of digital asset or shared ledger technology is definitely worthy of our in-depth research and discussion.

Cuomo said IBM will continue to help U.S. regulators and lawmakers learn about blockchain technology because they don’t want the country’s complex legal environment to restrict the development of the industry.

In recent years, the US government has tightened its supervision of the blockchain industry. Cuomo's opinion can't help but remind people of the BitLicense issued by the New York government. Many people criticized the government for being too broad and giving too many restrictions to the industry.