Sen. Peters introduced a bill under the Digital Property Protection and Law Enforcement Act.
The defaulters of the law will face a civil penalty of up to $10,000.
In the State of Illinois, Senator Robert Peters introduced a bill under the Digital Property Protection and Law Enforcement Act, on the 9th of February. The motto behind this bill (SB1887) is to protect the people in the state against digital property crimes and fraud.
To summarize the bill in short, the State Attorney or Attorney General’s request will be processed by the court to order a blockchain transaction without the declaration of a private key. The first set of voting for the bill was during the introduction itself. And two more are in line to go.
Section 15 (b) of SB1887 states:
“A blockchain network that processes a blockchain transaction originating in this State at any time after the effective date of this Act shall process a court-ordered blockchain transaction without the need for the private key associated with the digital property or smart contract.”
This act will come into effect after 30 days of modification as a bill. And after that, the court will have access to order any transaction or the node operator originating in Illinois. The defaulters of the law will face a civil penalty of up to $10,000.
Worries of Blockchain Community
This proposed bill is in a way crumbling the key factors of blockchain technology, like immutability and decentralization of blockchain technology. Both theoretically and technically, the implication of the proposed bill is not viable. And few crypto advocates are addressing it to be a “unworkable state law”.
as a preface, This is a stunning reverse course for a state that was previously pro -innovation. Instead we now get possibly the most unworkable state law related to #crypto and #blockchain I’ve ever seen. A shocking turn of events for the #tech community in #illinois /2
— Drew Hinkes (@propelforward) February 19, 2023
Illinois was a “pro-innovation” zone, but this bill has left the community in shock. Texas, a geography that is 1000 miles away from Illinois declared a bill last November to increase the crypto adoption rate. The bill practically encourages cryptocurrency purchases, by declining the tax on them. Each location is implementing different principles to stay updated with the current digital world.