Media: Washington Technology Industry Association

Date: 02/20/2020

ArcBlock Joins Cascadia Blockchain Council and Other Members to Celebrate Passing of Blockchain Bill

Originally posted on the WTIA.

ArcBlock and the Cascadia Blockchain Council are happy to report that the WA State Bill SB6065 “Establishing the Washington blockchain work group” has unanimously passed the committee and the Senate, thanks to Senator Sharon Brown for championing this bill and to the tireless efforts of the Council and the community:

• Joe Cutler & Dax Hansen (Perkins Coie)
• John deVadoss (NEO)
• Chris Ingrao (Lumedic)
• Chris Spanton (T-Mobile)
• Robert Mao, Matt McKinney & Riley Shu (ArcBlock)
• Joe Honan & Alvaro Jimenez-Jimenez (Yunity)
• Lawrence Lerner (Self)
• Joe Roets (Dragonchain)
• Lynn Robinson (City of Bellevue)
• Kristy-Leigh Minehan (Self), Jill Williamson (Gravis Law)
• Jesse Proudman (Strix Leviathan)
• Matt Medlin (Clark Nuber)
• Brock Freeman (FIBREE)
• and others continually supporting like Microsoft, Tenta Browser and Premera

We repeatedly had 6-8 representatives from the Council and community make multiple trips to Olympia with little notice to showcase our diverse and accomplished group of local experts. I am so grateful for the focused commitment of folks showing up, no matter the weather conditions, to make this happen for our region. I’d like to highlight our appreciation to the WTIA for providing so much of the resources that have made it possible for the blockchain community to effectively organize into a collective voice for the region, build relationships with policy makers and investors, and most especially, Ian Griswold (WTIA Government Affairs) and Nick Ellingson (WTIA Director of Products) for their work with the Blockchain Council.

While it’s not ‘over-the-line’ yet, this blockchain working group is a big milestone for the Pacific Northwest and will empower the private and public sectors to build together. Washington state is the global capital for cloud and platform technologies. We have a great opportunity to lead the United States in blockchain and distributed ledger technology. This bill, SB 6065, is a critical step in bringing together all of the private sector advancements utilizing this technology. By partnering with the government and the public sector, we’re figuring out the best next steps and working together to lay the groundwork for future supporting regulations to attract investment and jobs to our state.

This is the mission of the WTIA Cascadia Blockchain Council: to help blockchain companies from Portland, OR to Seattle, WA, to Vancouver, BC reach their full potential. We serve as the subject matter experts and collective voice to better advocate for constructive public policy and educating key stakeholders, especially investors. Let’s continue to work together to make this region one of the best places to work and live. If you’re interested in actively participating, please send me or Nick Ellingson a message anytime.