Photo by Always Shooting | CC BY 2.0
While New York, arguably the world’s financial capital, piddles with a study commission, Wyoming, one of the most rural of American states, continues to advance some of the most forward-thinking blockchain-related legislation.
Within the past week, Wyoming has pushed forward two pieces of legislation that would help to make it one of the world’s regulatory havens for blockchain. The legislation includes the following:
Digital Assets — Existing Laws: Categorizes digital assets as property under existing laws, including the Uniform Commercial Code, authorizes security interests in digital assets, and establishes an opt-in framework for banks to provide custodial services for digital assets.
Corporate Stock Certificates: Authorizes corporations to issue blockchain-based certificate tokens in lieu of traditional stock certificates.
The new legislation was celebrated by numerous blockchain advocates, including Caitlin Long, a member of the Wyoming Blockchain Coalition.
The new legislation comes on heels of several other pieces of legislation that position Wyoming as a haven for blockchain and cryptocurrency.
It’s “impressive and inspirational – the work that has been done by a number of key figures, including the Wyoming Blockchain Coalition and state legislators – in a very short period of time,” said Scott Burke, CEO of Canadian-based BlockCrushr Labs in a Newsweek article published last year. “It’s incredible to see common sense embraced and enacted in what could and should be an example-setting approach.”