MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Rep. Mike Shaw, R-Hoover, said Wednesday he intends to introduce legislation related to the regulation of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
“Don’t know what it’s going to look like, but I’m planning on putting something together to introduce next year, but it’s going to take some time,” Shaw told attendees of the town hall in Montgomery, organized by the cryptocurrency exchange company Coinbase.
“We’re going to have to get legislators and the people understanding as much as they can about how the technology works, understanding the implication for economic development and what it can mean for our state.”
Alabama lawmakers have shown interest in researching both how blockchain technology could benefit the state, as well as how to regulate it, with the Alabama Legislature’s Blockchain Study Commission holding its inaugural meeting last month.
The foundation upon which cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are built, blockchain technology acts as a secure public ledger that records and verifies transactions.
Some states have already adopted the use of blockchain technology. California recently digitized its records of 42 million car titles. As it relates to regulating the industry, most states have not adopted regulations specifically to cryptocurrency, and have instead relied on existing money transmission statutes.
Regarding regulation for cryptocurrency, Shaw said there was a need for “a bit of a reboot.”
“I think it’d be an incentive (for cryptocurrency and blockchain investments) just to have a certain regulatory environment so they know what to expect here,” Shaw told Alabama Daily News.
“A lot of the regulation in crypto is based on very old law, case law and things like that, which is fine, but it’s so new that they’re trying to shoehorn it in sometimes. I think we probably need a little bit of a reboot.”
The town hall was held at Prevail Coffee in Montgomery, the owner of which is Wade Preston of the Alabama Blockchain Alliance. He not only participated in the Blockchain Study Commission last month, but recently started accepting cryptocurrency as payment at his coffee shop.
Preston and Ashley Gunn, senior manager at Coinbase, strongly advocated at the event for a regulatory environment to be created specifically for crypto, though also cautioned against over-regulating the industry.
Rep. Phillip Ensler, D-Montgomery, was also a featured speaker at the event, and concurred that over-regulating the cryptocurrency industry could stifle investments and innovation.
“We don’t want to stifle small businesses, we don’t want to get in the way of investors or people that are looking to use it for economic development and growth purposes,” Ensler said.
