New California Bill gets Update for Blockchain Work Group to Study the Technology

It looks like California will be forming a working group to examine the benefits of the blockchain technology soon. The working group will reunite to define what are the potential benefits of the technology and update the laws to make it easier for companies to use it but also safe for everybody in the financial system.

As we have recently reported, the State of California has passed the Bill AB 2658. This bill was created to be a legal framework and to define legally what blockchain technology is. This working group is part of the bill, which was first introduced in February and it was accepted in July.

The bill defines that “a record that is secured through blockchain technology is an electronic record”. However, the group will study the technology careful and this decision may be changed in the future.

The blockchain technology is also defined as a “mathematically secured, chronological and decentralized ledger or database”. However, it should be noted that this definition is temporary and it will expire by January 2022, so a new one has to be found until then or this one has to be accepted for good.

About the Blockchain Working Group

The chairperson of this new working group will be defined until July 1, 2019. The idea is to include members from the technology industry, representatives from related fields like the financial market and stakeholders will be able to provide input to the group on occasion. After the meetings, the working group will be responsible for recommending new State legislature changes.

According to the bill AB 2658, the group was formed to specifically look into how the blockchain technology can be used by the government and local businesses and to access its risks and how it can benefit the businesses. Also, the group should see how it fits into the Californian law and how the State of California can be benefited from the technology.

After the group is decided, it will have roughly a year to decide, so until July 1, 2020 the group should draft its report on the questions and include recommendations for modifications in the law and other amendments to code sections that may impact the blockchain technology in the state.

The governor of California, Jerry Brown, still has 30 days to allow the bill to become a law or veto it. As the bill passed with an overwhelming majority, it does not look like the governor will veto it.