One of the most beautiful and scenic U.S. states is now also one of the first to convene a blockchain working group to consider practical and appropriate uses of the immutable ledger technology used to establish cryptocurrency platforms and more.
Cointelegraph reports Hawaii is quickly evolving its state blockchain working group to look at how to use blockchain and related fintech systems within the Polynesian paradise.
As a pioneer in fintech, Hawaii joins several other states that already have these blockchain working groups on board. The list shows a rather scattered approach in terms of state policy. On one hand, you would expect the coastal state of California, with the country’s largest single state economy and progressive leanings, to have a blockchain working group. Not so much with interior states Wyoming and North Dakota. Then there’s Illinois but not Indiana, New York but not Pennsylvania, and North Carolina but not Virginia. New Jersey is one of the last states to start its own blockchain working group, and Florida, not known as a hotbed of intellectualism but with a sizeable state economy of its own, has also initiated this type of program.
What do state working groups look like?
California’s offers a sort of template as a roadmap for future blockchain use, providing this higher-level “framework” for blockchain brainstorming:
“The Working Group recommends the use of a decision matrix to evaluate the suitability of blockchain for a given application by considering the questions provided in the diagram in Chapter IV. Special attention is given to ethical considerations, digital identity, cybersecurity, and privacy.”
The document further specifies two distinct ethical considerations guiding blockchain evaluations:
“(1) Consider how best to educate Californians about blockchain, to ensure a basic understanding as the technology is introduced in the public and private sector. (2) Encourage environmental sustainability as use cases are being developed by offering incentives to blockchain companies that have an environmental sustainability plan or impact statement.”
We can expect to see more of this in the future as states learn how to regulate and monitor growth in the sector. If you have related holdings, don’t neglect the ethical research that states and other stakeholders are now increasingly doing to stay on the right side of the technology divide.
