SPRINGFIELD, Ill.—Illinois lawmakers have formed a subcommittee to explore state policies over decentralized digital currencies such as Bitcoin.
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation said in a statement to CUToday.info that for the past several years it has been working to provide "regulatory clarity with respect to how digital currency should be treated." That includes Digital Currency Regulatory Guidance published in June of 2018 related to its stance on this issue, which is that digital currency does not generally fall under state money transmission law.
"While IDFPR determined certain activities related to this emerging technology do not fall under current state statute, we do consider digital currency to be a perfectly valid expression of financial innovation and will continue to monitor this emerging technology," the department said in a statement.
Some lawmakers believe digital currencies and blockchain technology may have benefits that could make state government more efficient.
Rep. Mike Zalewski (D), who will chair the House subcommittee, said his goal is to understand whether a digital currency would be a worthy investment or a risky gamble, the Associated Press reported.
"As lawmakers, we all want government to run more efficiently and transparently," Zalewski said. "Distributed ledger technology has the promise to do just that — replace old antiquated systems with a modern approach to serving citizens' needs."
He said he hopes the subcommittee can create a policy that puts consumers first.
Rep. Jaime Andrade (D), chairman of the Cybersecurity, Data Analytics and IT committee, said the aim of the subcommittee is to create an environment that "allows and fosters this technology," the AP reported.
Andrade said a report will be released soon from the task force that was created last year to study how and if state, county and municipal governments can benefit from record keeping and service delivery based on a blockchain system. No hearings have been scheduled yet for the new subcommittee, the Associated Press reported.