In a recent interview, Greg Abbott, governor of Texas, revealed his progressive vision for the state in relevance to Bitcoin.
Opening his stance, Abbott acknowledges the constantly advancing world of Bitcoin and blockchain and says that the state foresees its enhanced future development. In the process of advancement, Texas doesn’t wish to be left out and instead be the epicenter of it.
Explaining the provision for Bitcoin in Texas, the governor says that they are promoting the use of the world’s largest cryptocurrency and making advancements on their end to make the situation in the state favorable for its growth. The state desires to provide an amiable platform for all those associated with Bitcoin and blockchain where they can come to.
The platform would not have the resistance that the businesses face from the higher authorities. This would help businesses to grow hassle free and facilitate the experimentations and promotions related to innovations. Abbott also referred to Bitcoin and blockchain as the cutting edge, which means the latest or most advanced in the innovation world and would continue to be advancing it.
Further, when asked about the approach and stance of Texas to become a “Bitcoin country”, Abbott said that apart from being flexible and open to the new technology, the state has also made regulatory changes to support the sector. Texas has passed several laws that provide ease of operations associated with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Abbott shared a legislation passed to regulate the virtual assets in the state via a tweet. Before the Virtual Currency Bill, he signed a bill that created “a master plan” to expand the state’s blockchain industry.
Texas is the second state after Wyoming to recognize blockchain and cryptocurrency in its Uniform Commercial Code, which governs commercial transactions. The Virtual Currency Bill is similar to the “Digital Asset Bill” passed in Wyoming in 2019, which has helped position it as a hub for bitcoin investors.
Abbott, in his interview, also mentions a working group formed to prioritize cryptocurrency legislation in the state. The group would work on determining an approach that would lure innovation and align with the state’s perspective of having ease in regulation. The state authorities also intend to be identified as anti-regulatory.
“We created a working group to ensure that we focus on the type of legislation that will make it more inviting. We don’t want to be over-regulatory and want to be anti-regulatory.”
The interviewer then discusses the topic of Bitcoin mining and the support of power in the state. In response to this, Abbott said that the state has an open and independent power grid, unlike most states that rely on the highly regulated power structure.
Texas gives its residents freedom to purchase power from a local provider creating an opportunity for others to bail out in case of heavy power demand. This access to power would benefit Bitcoin as it will not incur a significant loss due to lack of power.
Michael Saylor, the co-founder and former CEO of MicroStrategy and one of Bitcoin’s most prominent advocates, posted the governor’s interview. He has shown support for crypto numerous times and recently also said it outperformed other indices.
In October, the power consumption by the miners in the state became a big topic of concern and witnessed politicians raising the alarm. The senators expressed their concerns about the possibility that mining operations could put additional strain on the state’s power grid in a letter to Pablo Vegas, CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), referring to Texas as a “deregulated safe harbour” for cryptocurrency mining companies.