The Arizona governor has signed a bill that officially recognizes blockchain signatures and smart contracts.

Just last week, the Senate of the state of Arizona passed the bill, HB 2417, which was introduced by state representative Jeff Weninger on 6 February, 2017. The bill passed with a vote of 28-1 where it was then passed along to Arizona’s governor Doug Ducey.

Now that gov. Ducey has signed the bill into law it clears up that states position on blockchain signatures and smart contracts. By including smart contracts in the bill, it means that they need to be upheld and enforced under Arizona law, according to a report from Digital Currency Executive Brief.

According to the bill, it states that ‘a record or contract that is secured through blockchain technology is considered to be in an electronic form and to be an electronic record.’

It further adds that:

Smart contracts may exist in commerce. A contract relating to a transaction may not be denied legal effect, validity or enforceability solely because that contract contains a smart contract term.

Even though the law was expected to be signed into law by gov. Ducey, it will no doubt be a welcome sight by analysts who have been closely watching the progress of the bill. Not only that, but it will add credence to court cases if they need to rely on the smart contracts as evidence in court.

Blockchain Bills

In February, Hawaii announced that it had filed a bill, HB 1481, aimed at boosting tourism and the technology trade in the state. If approved, it could pave the way for changing and improving public sector operations.

New Hampshire has also passed a bill. HB 436 was passed in the House of Representatives earlier this month, which if it gets passed, will mean that people using digital currencies such as bitcoin could be excused from money transmitter regulations in the state.

It will now proceed to the state Senate where its fate will be determined. However, if it’s approved it could mean that firms in the state of New Hampshire would be able to work without worrying too much about adhering to KYC and AML systems.

As previously reported, the U.S. is demonstrating a keen interest in the blockchain technology.

This can be seen through its bipartisan Congressional blockchain caucus, which has been formed to research further into the technology and its regulations and how they can be applied to companies.

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