Vanel pushes smart contracts bill

When looking at the various knowledge gaps between elected officials and the tech industry, blockchain and distributed ledger technology ranks pretty high. While many associate blockchain with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Litecoin, some state lawmakers are working on how the state can take advantage of the possibilities the tech holds – like more secure means of holding and transmitting information.

At a panel hosted by Smart Cities New York on Tuesday, Assemblyman Clyde Vanel joined government officials and industry experts to talk about use cases for blockchain, focusing largely on state legislation that would allow signatures, records, and contracts secured through the technology to be considered valid electronic signatures.

The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Diane Savino, passed 60-0 in the state Senate, but is still in committee in the Assembly, where Vanel serves as the primary sponsor, alongside eight co-sponsors. This “smart contracts” bill is just one example of what’s possible with blockchain, Vanel said, mentioning an incident in 2016 that saw 200,000 New York voter records purged. “If that was on distributed ledger technology, that would not happen.”

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