Iowa House approves bill to legally recognize blockchain smart contracts
The bill would give legal recognition to transfers and registrations made through blockchain smart contracts. On March 29, the Iowa House of Representatives passed a bill that seeks to legally recognize transactions and registrations made via blockchain smart contracts. The bill — SF541 — gained Senate approval earlier in the month. Under the auspices of the new bill, smart contracts would be given the same legal status as regular contracts, while distributed-ledger technology would be viewed as a reliable electronic store of record. Regarding smart contracts, the bill states: “The bill provides that a contract shall not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because the contract is a smart contract or contains a smart contract provision.” The bill states that any registration of rights or ownership would not be invalidated by its broadcast on a blockchain network unless the transaction was related specifically to the transfer of the rights in question. “A person who, ...