Ohio Blockchain Legislation Status

Ohio Blockchain Legislation Status

PROPOSED LAWS & REGULATIONS ENACTED LAWS & REGULATIONS LAWS & REGULATIONS NOT PASSED
 

Ohio’s Money Transmitter Act does not explicitly include “virtual currencies” nor “monetary value” and the State’s Department of Commerce has not published guidance on virtual currency regulations.

 

 

In 2014, The State amended its Liquor Control Law to impose an unusual ban on the use of virtual currencies for the purchase of alcohol.

 

https://www.cleveland.com/business/2014/04/cleveland_heights_merchants_banking_on_bitcoin_boulevard_to_draw_global_spotlight.html

S.B. 300

was pending before the State’s legislature and would amend Ohio’s Uniform Electronic Transactions Act to include blockchain records and smart contracts and recognize smart contracts as legally enforceable. However, that bill died in committee.

 

https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-status?id=GA132-SB-300

 

H.B. 220

In April 2019, the House introduced a bill that would permit a governmental entity to use “distributed ledger technology, including blockchain technology, in the exercise of its authority.”

 

Status: Referred to the Transportation, Commerce, and Workforce Committee

 

H.B. 220, 133rd Gen. Assemb., 2019 Sess. (Ohio 2019).

 

Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 1306.01

Ohio provides definitions for electronic records and signatures to be valid if secured via blockchain technology.

 

Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 1306.01 (West 2019).

https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-1306.01

In November 2018, Ohio became the first state to allow companies to pay a variety of tax burdens with cryptocurrency.

 

However, the Ohio Attorney General assessed the state’s crypto payment program and concluded the program violates state law because under Ohio law the program is a financial transaction devise that cannot be used without first being approved by the Ohio Board of Deposit.

 

Consequently, the Ohio Treasurer announced the suspension of the cryptocurrency tax payment program.

 

https://tos.ohio.gov/files/Pdfs/Crypto/10%2002%202019%20Crypto%20One-Pager.pdf