Bill Drafted Requiring New Hampshire to Accept Bitcoin for State Taxes and Fees by 2017

Lawmakers in New Hampshire have drafted a bill that would require the state treasurer to accept Bitcoin Bitcoin While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that Read this Term as payment for state taxes and fees by January 1, 2017.

The bill is titled, "Requiring the state treasurer to develop an implementation plan for the state to accept bitcoin as payment for taxes and fees." It was sponsored by Eric Schleien, James Spillane, Eddie Edwards, Nick Zaricki, Keith Ammon, Amanda Bouldin, Brian Gallagher and Kevin Avard.

The draft does not delve into why bitcoin should be accepted and, in fact, quotes the Treasury Department as saying that such a project "may increase state expenditures by an indeterminable amount." This is because the Treasury has no familiarity with Bitcoin operations and therefore cannot determine in advance how much time and effort would be required.

The plan is briefly described as follows:

"The plan shall address any accounting, valuation, and management issues relative to the acceptance of bitcoin and shall identify an appropriate third party payment processor that will process bitcoin transactions at no cost to the state."

Meanwhile, Marco Santori, a lawyer with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, tweeted:

Big things happening in New Jersey #bitcoin Regulation Regulation Like any other industry with a high net worth, the financial services industry is tightly regulated to help curb illicit behavior and manipulation. Each asset class has its own set of protocols put in place to combat their respective forms of abuse.In the foreign exchange space, regulation is assumed by authorities in multiple jurisdictions, though ultimately lacking a binding international order. Who are the Industry’s Leading Regulators?Regulators such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority ( Like any other industry with a high net worth, the financial services industry is tightly regulated to help curb illicit behavior and manipulation. Each asset class has its own set of protocols put in place to combat their respective forms of abuse.In the foreign exchange space, regulation is assumed by authorities in multiple jurisdictions, though ultimately lacking a binding international order. Who are the Industry’s Leading Regulators?Regulators such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority ( Read this Term this week. Stay tuned for more... — Marco Santori (@msantoriESQ) February 1, 2015

Several states have been looking into how to tackle bitcoin regulation. New York's BitLicense proposal, which was reportedly revised after negative feedback, remains pending.