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Lawmakers from both parties on Capitol Hill are looking to define āblockchainā and see how government could use the technology.
The United States Senate committee of commerce, science and transportation approved the Blockchain Promotion Act onĀ Tuesday.
The US Congress is moving forward on key piece of legislation designed to lay the regulatory framework for blockchain technology and to see how the government could benefit from itsĀ use.
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Tuesday approved the Blockchain Promotion Act, bipartisan legislation that directs the Department of Commerce to come up with a standard definition of āblockchain,ā the accounting ledger technology that underlies bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Blockchain distributes copies of the ledger across multiple computers so everyone in a network is working off a single record of all transactions, which is resistant to tampering and easy toĀ audit.
āBlockchain is an exciting new technology with great potential and promise,ā Sen. Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts and co-sponsor of the bill, said in a statement. Markey noted that the technology is already being used in the private sector to expand access to renewable energy, enhance health care delivery systems and improve supply chain efficiency.
āThis legislation will help further understand applications for this technology and explore opportunities for its use within the federal government,ā heĀ added.
The bill, which was reintroduced in February, has bipartisan sponsors in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Itās meant to prevent a patchwork of blockchain definitions at the state level and to set the framework for future regulation of the technology. There are already several bills that have been introduced around blockchain technology.
Lawmakers also see opportunity to use the technology to make many governmental functions more efficient. The working group described in the legislation will help do that. Many experts consider blockchain to be a major innovation in double-ledger accounting that could be very useful to government agencies to help deliver services, prevent tax fraud, eliminate bureaucracy and reduce waste. For instance, it could be used to keep track of health care and Social Security benefits or improve document management and storage. Another potential use is helping agenciesāāāfor instance, the Federal Communications Commission in better allocating and managing wireless spectrum licenses.
āThis bipartisan, bicameral bill will bring a broad group of stakeholders together to develop a common definition of blockchain, and, perhaps even more importantly, recommend opportunities to leverage the technology to promote new innovations,ā Rep. Doris Matsui, a Democrat from California, said in a statement.
Specifically, the working group would provide recommendations to other government agencies, including the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the FCC to study using the technology to help manage wireless spectrum and provide other efficiencies within the federal government.
Matsui is sponsoring an identical bill in the House along with Rep. Brett Guthrie, a Republican from Kentucky. The billās sponsors in the Senate are Sens. Markey and Todd Young, a Republican fromĀ Indiana.
US Senate Committee Approves the Blockchain Promotion Act was originally published in HackerNoon.com on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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