Blockchain Representatives Raise Concerns About A Nevada Crypto Bill

Blockchain and crypto representatives expressed their concerns about a crypto bill in the Nevada State Senate in a hearing in the Judiciary Committee on March 12, on Tuesday which we are about to read more in our blockchain news below.

The bill SB 195 aims to introduce multiple uniform standards to the digital currency industry and also aims to make crypto-related business such as exchanges to be required to register with the Department of Business and Industry in the state.

The Uniform Regulation of Virtual-Currency Businesses Act, which is sponsored by the Democratic senator James Ohrenschall comes because of his strong efforts to put forward the Uniform Law Commission to introduce strong regulations for the digital currency industry. Ohrenschall stated in the hearing that the multiple iterations of the bill were already introduced in a couple of state legislatures including California, Oklahoma, and Hawaii.

The bill was explained before the committee and the representatives from the crypto industry reacted strongly and protested against the new bill. The Nevada Technology Association (NTA) stated that this crypto bill is way premature and that it would lead the state of Nevada in a strong disadvantage in the blockchain industry because it is still in its development stages. The association also expressed their concerns saying that the bill aims to regulate the evolving technology in a very fast manner which could bring more harm than good for the sector.

The vice president of the government affairs and strategic initiatives at Blockchain LLC Matt Digesti stated that no blockchain related businesses were consulted during the drafting process of the new bill.

The director of government affairs at blockchain firm Filament Wency Stolyarov published a written statement  saying that the new law would ‘’unintentionally classify us as a money transmitter because we build hardware wallet technology that enables the machine-to-machine autonomous transaction.’’

The bill is still at the beginning stages since it was only introduced in mid-February. The associated press also found out that some countries in Nevada started issuing marriage license on the Ethereum blockchain while their acceptance varies from state to state.