Michigan Legislature’s Bill Would Make It Illegal To Counterfeit Blockchain Data

Michigan’s state legislature is moving forward with two bills that would make it a crime to illegally alter a blockchain record, CoinDesk reported Wednesday.

Under a version presented earlier this month by state representative Curt WanderWall, the state’s penal code pertaining to those who “makes, alters, forges or counterfeits a public record” would be changed to include “a person that accomplishes a violation…by altering a record made utilizing distributed ledger technology,” the report said.

Under one of the bills, the legislation doesn’t offer specific examples of what the proposed change means, the report said.

The second proposed piece of legislation applies similar changes for crimes involving credit cards, the report said. Like the previous bill, it extends an existing definition to cover the technology, the report said.

“‘Financial transaction device’ means any of the following…Any instrument…or other means of access to a credit account or deposit account including through the use of cryptocurrency or distributed ledger technology,” the legislation reads, the CoinDesk report said.

Should either piece pass the legislature and are signed by the governor, the amendatory acts of House Bill 6257 and 6258, both introduced June 12, would take effect 90 days after being enacted into law, the report said.

Today, the state of Michigan has no specific regulations on cryptocurrencies, the report said.

However, a newsletter from the Michigan Department of Treasury in November 2015 provides guidance, saying ”purchases of virtual currency… are not subject to sales or use tax,” CoinDesk reported.

In addition, Michigan State Attorney General, Bill Schuette, previously issued a consumer alert warning all residents that “virtual currency carries a significant amount of real-life risk.”

– WN.com, Jack Durschlag