Title: Blockchain Records and Transactions Act of 2020
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Blockchain Records and Transactions Act of 2020
This bill expands the validity and legal effect of electronic records and signatures to apply to electronic signatures, records, and certain contracts created or stored by blockchain technology.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8524 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8524

To amend the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act 
    to clarify the applicability of such Act to electronic records, 
electronic signatures, and smart contracts created, stored, or secured 
   on or through a blockchain, to provide uniform national standards 
   regarding the legal effect, validity, and enforceability of such 
      records, signatures, and contracts, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 2, 2020

  Mr. Schweikert (for himself and Mr. Soto) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act 
    to clarify the applicability of such Act to electronic records, 
electronic signatures, and smart contracts created, stored, or secured 
   on or through a blockchain, to provide uniform national standards 
   regarding the legal effect, validity, and enforceability of such 
      records, signatures, and contracts, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

     This Act may be cited as the ``Blockchain Records and Transactions 
Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES IN GLOBAL AND NATIONAL 
              COMMERCE ACT.

    (a) Validity of Electronic Records, Electronic Signatures, and 
Smart Contracts Using Blockchain.--Section 101(a) of the Electronic 
Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. 7001(a)) is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) an electronic record, electronic signature, or smart 
        contract may not be denied legal effect, validity, or 
        enforceability solely because it is created, stored, or secured 
        on or through a blockchain.''.
    (b) Exemption to Preemption.--Section 102 of the Electronic 
Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. 7002) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in the heading, by striking ``In General'' and 
                inserting ``Electronic Records and Electronic 
                Signatures Generally''; and
                    (B) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 
                inserting ``, except for paragraph (3) of section 
                101(a),'' after ``the provisions of section 101'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as subsections 
        (c) and (d), respectively; and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
    ``(b) Electronic Records, Electronic Signatures, and Smart 
Contracts Using Blockchain.--A State statute, regulation, or other rule 
of law may modify, limit, or supersede paragraph (3) of section 101(a) 
with respect to State law only if such statute, regulation, or rule of 
law is substantially similar to such paragraph.''.
    (c) Definitions.--Section 106 of the Electronic Signatures in 
Global and National Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. 7006) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (12) and (13) as paragraphs 
        (14) and (15), respectively;
            (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (11) as 
        paragraphs (2) through (12), respectively;
            (3) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so redesignated) 
        the following:
            ``(1) Blockchain.--The term `blockchain' means software 
        that uses a distributed digital ledger of cryptographically 
        signed transactions that are grouped into blocks, each of 
        which--
                    ``(A) is cryptographically linked to the previous 
                block after validation and undergoing a consensus 
                decision; and
                    ``(B) when added as a new block, makes any older 
                blocks more difficult to modify and is replicated 
                across all copies of the ledger within the relevant 
                network, with any conflicts in such blocks resolved 
                automatically using established rules.''; and
            (4) by inserting after paragraph (12) (as so redesignated) 
        the following:
            ``(13) Smart contract.--The term `smart contract' means a 
        computer program that reflects an agreement, in whole or in 
        part, between two or more parties to execute transactions 
        automatically based on the occurrence of agreed-upon events.''.
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