New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has officially signed bill S2297 which allows for the creation of the Blockchain Initiative Task Force. The group will be commissioned to study use-cases for blockchain.

Blockchain research and implementation are coming to New Jersey after the state’s governor officially signed the creation of a new taskforce into law.

The Blockchain Initiative Task Force will be responsible for assessing the usability of blockchain on the state and local level. Specifically, the bill outlines a few key areas where blockchain will be most useful including medical records, banking, property auctions, and land ownership. The bill was first drafted in March of 2019 and passed the assembly unanimously.

The taskforce will ultimately consist of 14 people. As of now, the group will have 180 days to study the existing research done on blockchain technology by the state’s committee on science, tech, and innovation.

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The creation of the task force comes at a time when New Jersey has been cracking down on fraudulent ICOs and unregistered cryptocurrency exchanges. Two weeks ago, the state brought charges against a man operating an illegal Bitcoin exchange. Two more ICOs were targeted by the state’s Bureau of Securities as part of “Operation Cryptosweep.” Overall, it seems that the state has been looking at the crypto-space very closely and making sure companies are compliant.

New Jersey is not the only state to have a blockchain taskforce, however. The New York Legislature also has a taskforce entirely dedicated to cryptocurrencies, which formed in January of this year. The taskforce boasts some key members of the blockchain world including ConsenSys founder Joseph Lubin. New York’s BitLicense, specifically designed for cryptocurrency-related activities, was what spurred the creation of the taskforce.

It’s unclear whether New Jersey will be following these same steps. With New York next door, however, perhaps we could see a unique license for businesses involved with virtual currencies in the state. Still, the taskforce is a step in the right direction.

Is New Jersey trying to emulate New York’s stance on cryptocurrencies? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.

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