Following the federal tightening of crypto scrutiny, US states are also buckling up to tighten their grip on the crypto and blockchain sector as a quietly introduced Illinois senate bill seeks many “impossible things” from miners and node operators.
According to the reports, the bill, titled “Digital Property Protection and Law Enforcement Act”, was quietly introduced on February 9th by Illinois senator Robert Peters. The bill went unnoticed until now. On Sunday, February 19th, the Florida-based lawyer Drew Hinkes discussed the bill on Twitter, calling it a “quixotic attempt to protect Illinois consumers.”
The Most Unworkable State Law
According to Drew Hinkes, the bill, recorded as SB1887 in the Illinois legislature, is the “most unworkable state law” he has ever seen as it demands impossible things from miners, node operators, and blockchain validators. This would drive out blockchain operators from Illinois, the US state known for its crypto-friendly laws.
He wrote:
“SB1887 focuses on consumer protection (this is GOOD). But, the manner in which it seeks to protect consumers is to require #node operators ##miners & #validators to do impossible things, or things that create for themselves new criminal & civil liability at pain of fines/ fees.”
According to LegiScan, the text of the bill states that upon the request of an attorney:
“A court may order any appropriate blockchain transaction for digital property or for the execution of a smart contract. Provides that a blockchain network that processes a blockchain transaction originating in the State at any time after the effective date of the Act shall process a court-ordered blockchain transaction without the need for the private key associated with the digital property or smart contract.”
This means that Illinois courts can force operators to alter transactions “specifically by including smart contract code capable of responding to court orders.”
Blockchain infrastructure operators may be subjected to a civil penalty of between $5,000 and $10,000 per day, in case they fail to comply with court orders. Furthermore, there will possibly be no defense available to operators. They will have to return all the digital property they received and pay attorneys fees.
The service providers will have to refund the owner of the digital asset if he loses his private keys, or becomes the victim of fraud or his own mistake.
Crypto Community Reacts
The crypto community is mocking the bill. Crypto analyst foobar wrote:
“This is hilarious, Illinois is proposing a bill that would make miners & validators “respond to a court order by including transactions on the blockchain without needing the private key.”
Many in the community said that legislators were trying to regulate a tech sector they don’t understand, even on a basic level. A Twitter user, MarioMCP, wrote:
“So sick and tired of legislators and politicians making laws and sweeping judgements on things they do not understand. I mean that on a literal level. They don’t actually understand any of this, but continue to make laws based on it.
Crypto made me so much more bearish on gov.”
