ULC Close to Finalizing Model Digital Currency Legislation

An effort to create a template for digital currency legislation in the US could be finalized next summer.

The nonprofit Uniform Law Commission has been working for the past year on draft legislation, an effort aimed at bringing a degree of harmony, from state to state, when it comes to regulating bitcoin and other digital currencies. It grew out of an earlier project that was focused on legislation for alternative payment systems, including mobile-based tools.

According to a recent blog post by Coin Center director of research Peter Van Valkenburgh, who attended a meeting in Minneapolis last week, that effort is moving toward the finish line. Though more meetings will potentially be held to continue debating elements of the draft legislation, Van Valkenburgh said he expects the ULC to be able to vote on a final version when the organization meets next summer.

He told CoinDesk:

"The drafting committee anticipates being done with the bill such that it can be voted on in the coming summer ULC meeting."

From there, however, it would be up to state regulators and legislatures to actually pursue the process of adopting the proposal or at least incorporating elements of it.

Some states, like North Carolina, have already moved to bring the digital currency under existing statutes. Other states, including Florida, are still at the drawing table in terms of developing legislation. These efforts have taken place against the backdrop of New York’s BitLicense, the first state-level regulatory scheme focused on digital currencies that came into force last year.

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