Ohio introduces blockchain recognition bill, joining nationwide trend

Newswire: May 22, 2018.

Dateline: Columbus, Ohio.

Ohio is poised to be the next state to join the trend of those recognizing smart contracts and electronic records as valid under state contract law. Legislation introduced this week would amend the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act to which Ohio is a signatory, and include blockchain records and smart contracts as electronic records under state law.

Most notably in the language of Ohio Senate Bill 300 are provisions that specifically recognize smart contracts, and “a contract may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because an electronic record was used in its formation.”

Smart contracts digitally provide trackable and irreversible records of two or more parties entering into agreements, without third-party verification. They are a feature of cryptocurrency transactions, too.

Ohio is the latest in the movement of states passing blockchain-recognition legislation to send a message to that they are friendly places for such business ventures. The Electronic Signature & Records Association, in late March, issued a statement that said despite lawmakers’ good intentions, individual state statutes that seek to define blockchain or smart contract technology, or ensure their enforceability, more often result in inconsistency, confusion and redundancy.

Read the full story here.