Governor of Colorado, Jared Polis, spoke during the third Ethereum hackathon, EthDenver, calling on the federal government to follow the steps taken by local governments to promote the development of blockchain technology in the United States. Polis said,
"Colorado is the center of the blockchain economy. We’ve attracted over $50 million in venture capital for blockchain startups.”
The governor started off a short interview with Coindesk, saying the state is heavily committed to the course of blockchain technology in the state, with the Ethereum hackathon hosted in Denver, Colorado. Jared is a key figure in the regulation and legislation processes on digital assets and blockchain technology.
The federal government has shown signals of taking an interest in blockchain and cryptocurrencies but the process is slow, according to Polis. He said,
"Advocating at the national level, you can do a lot and a lot can only be done there, but it moves like molasses. You can spend years working on one thing and maybe eight years later it gets done.”
As one of the key figures in the House of Representatives, Jared had challenges passing federal laws but is currently making a change at the local level as Governor with an aim of making Colorado the center of blockchain development. He said,
"As Governor, we can move fast, but we can only do what we are allowed to do."
Through his tenure as governor, Polis has signed into law the Digital Tokens Act to spell out regulations on digital tokens and “clearing of ICOs exempting them from SEC’s scrutiny”. Colorado’s House of Representative lawmakers also sponsored a bill to govern blockchain technology use in the agricultural industry across the U.S.