A bill has been introduced in Texas by a staunch Texas Republican and certified public accountant Phil Stephenson that would require a person receiving cryptocurrencies as payment to first verify the identity of the person sending payment.
The bill could be one of the most significant anti-crypto moves carried out by the state legislature so far. It would prevent any crypto transaction where the sender’s identity is not verified beforehand. No further information is given about what kind of verification would be necessary, and the specifics of how these rules would be enforced are unclear.
The Texas bill introduced by Phil Stephenson will force crypto users to identify themselves. The bill is passed in the house. H.B. No. 4371 states that every crypto user who sends or receives any form of the digital entity must be known to the state. However, if the users use “verified digital currency,” they don’t have to submit identity verification to the state.
If passed, the bill would be put into reinforcement by September 1, 2019, and anyone either sending or receiving the digital asset must verify their identity to the state. However, if they use a state-verified identity digital currency, there is no need for identity verification. Here is what H.B. No. 4371 states,
The Texas bill also declares that the Texas Department of Banking, Credit Union Commission, along with the Texas Department of Public Safety, will collaborate to support the application of VIDCs.
Such encouragement is defined as providing tools to distinguish VIDCs from other digital currencies, educating law enforcement, and promoting the use of VCs. The bill also specifies how those guidelines should be implemented, noting that the organizations, as mentioned earlier, should adopt rules to carry out these directives.
