A Florida state senator has put forward a bill which, if approved by the Senate, would create the legal foundations for the use of smart contracts and blockchain data across the state. House Bill 1357 states that any contract or record that is secured using blockchain technology forms an electronic record which should be legally viewed as a valid electronic signature.

The bill goes on to outline that if an individual uses blockchain technology in order to secure foreign or interstate commercial contracts, it will not impact ownership rights. In layman’s terms, this means that if you used a blockchain ledger to store information, under this bill, that individual’s rights to the information would be legally recognised.

If the bill is signed and placed on the state statute books, Florida would become the latest in a line of states which are passing measures legally recognising blockchain technology. In 2017, similar measures were signed into law in Arizona and Vermont.

The increasing legal recognition is good news for the blockchain industry, which has a number of products in development that utilise blockchain and smart contract technology. These include DocTailor, Street Smart Outdoor and MetaX. Blockchain tech could revolutionise the way companies do business with each other.