Last week, a Tennesse lawmaker Jason Powell presented a bill to the state that could possibly bring state, municipality, and county investments closer to digital assets. If the bill passes, it will mark the first instance of a US state being able to buy cryptocurrencies or non-fungible tokens.
The bill is currently being revised by a subcommittee that will work out some further details. Moreover, Powell proposed forming a study committee with a goal to make the state “the most forward-thinking and pro-business state for cryptocurrency and blockchain and to foster a positive economic environment for blockchain and cryptocurrency.”
Introducing the bill will have its obstacles, though. Crypto and digital assets as such exist in a grey area between the US state laws and federal law. A question withstands, whether such a piece of the legislature can be accepted on a state level, or it belongs under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
Several US states have passed bills that have touched wider crypto adoption. Last December, Florida’s governor proposed a bill to allow businesses to pay fees with cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, Kentucky has already passed a bill lowering the tax for crypto miners.
Tennesse’s bill, however, would represent the first time that a state itself would be allowed to dabble into digital assets. As the law has been unclear so far as to which jurisdiction the matter belongs to, it could possibly set a precedent for future states attempting to pass similar bills.
