The United States Government Accountability Office, under the directive of Congress, has put down some policies to help regulators integrate blockchain to solve the prevalent problems. The GAO assessed the technology while admitting its prospects in enhancing the sectors of the economy.
According to the assessment, blockchain can expedite the title registry system and reduce insurance cost by enabling registration convenient and secure. The agency, however, raised some concerns about implementing the technology. It x-rayed some challenges, such as a lack of real-time data and legal framework.
How GAO Can Aid Institutions Integrate Blockchain
The objective of GAO is to show policymakers the use cases of blockchain and how they can implement the technology. The agency pointed out that the technology can aid institutions to provide a historically consistent data store without allowing modifications. However, it may not be applied if entities don’t need an audit trail of what happened and when or if there are no trust or control issues over datastore management.
The GAO pinpointed other potential uses of blockchain, such as real estate, coffee supply chain, organizational structure, carbon credits, federal government operations, voting, pharmaceuticals, and digital IDs.
Four Key Policies As Enumerated By the Study
The agency proposed four policies to simplify blockchain implementation – set standards, adopt oversight, issue educational tools, and solve the issues surrounding the traditional financial system, advantages, and costs.
By standards, the agency wants regulators to tackle the problems surrounding interoperability and privacy. The second policy, adopting oversight, can mitigate challenges that deal that revolve around legality. The use of educational materials can foster a better understanding of the benefits and costs of blockchain.
The last policy addresses the issues revolving around the risks to the advantages and costs of traditional financial systems. Finally, the assessment points out that legal uncertainty may hamper people from utilizing blockchain.
This assessment comes weeks after the Virginia Senate passed a bill that enabled regular banks to offer crypto custodial services in the state. According to the bill, a traditional financial entity may provide custodial services to crypto customers provided the bank has sufficient rules to cope with the risks. The bill was voted on unanimously.
Some U.S. cities are reportedly planning to pass some crypto laws. In mid-March, Colorado said it was considering allowing its residents to pay their taxes in virtual currencies. Wyoming is also looking at implementing a crypto tax bill.
Arizona and Florida are the other two states considering implementing similar laws. Florida businesses have indicated readiness to pay their taxes in virtual assets. Unlike New York, Florida is the best crypto-friendly state in the U.S., but largely due to the policies of their pro-crypto governor Ron DeSantis.
