With an initiative that would allow state banks to offer cryptocurrency services, Nebraska lawmakers are moving forward.
Also, with 39 lawmakers voting to advance the bill for enrollment and initial review on Sunday, State Senators favored the measure through the first of three required votes in the legislature.
Legislature bill 649 aims to adopt the Nebraska Financial Innovation Act and create digital asset depository institutions as well as provide for charter, operation, supervision and regulation of such institutions and which bill was introduced by Republican Mike Flood in January
Allowing banks to facilitate crypto transactions, the initiative would reportedly make Nebraska the second state in the United States to set up a formal charter for cryptocurrency-powered banks. Chartering its first cryptobank in September 2020, Wyoming was the first state to do so.
Senator Flood said that he introduced the bill after talking with an entrepreneur friend who decided to move into the cryptocurrency industry in Wyoming. Flood said that Nebraska has an opportunity to become an early adopter of cryptocurrencies with the measure, which could help it benefit from technology and finance jobs. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity not only for my district, but the state of Nebraska,” he said.
Some lawmakers questioned whether it was right for the state to move into crypto, expressing skepticism about consequences of the measure. “This bill is not anywhere close to being in a form where it could pass,” Senator Steve Erdman reportedly said.