UK Move to Digitize Trade Documents Could Rely on Blockchain, Government Says

A U.K. inaugural to digitize commercialized documents could marque usage of technologies that underlie crypto, the authorities has said.

The Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023, which officially became instrumentality connected July 20, stands to reverse centuries-old merchant laws to let commercialized documents to beryllium stored and distributed digitally. The laws are acceptable to instrumentality effect this autumn.

The enactment is exertion neutral and volition let the usage of blockchain exertion if it meets the reliability test, a authorities spokesperson told CoinDesk.

The Law Commission for England and Wales, the autarkic statutory assemblage that drafted the bill, estimates that billions of papers are passed astir annually with planetary shipments, due to the fact that that’s the lone mode they tin beryllium transported.

The act’s value “is that it allows physics documents to beryllium treated arsenic legally analogous to insubstantial if they conscionable definite criteria,” Law Commissioner Sarah Green told CoinDesk successful an emailed statement, adding that blockchain exertion happens to beryllium 1 of the means by which specified documents tin conscionable those criteria.

“Electronic commercialized documents besides summation information and compliance by making it easier to hint records – for instance, done the usage of blockchain and distributed ledger technology,” a authorities press merchandise connected the enactment said.

This is simply a “step forward” for the U.K., according to James Butterfill, caput of probe astatine CoinShares. Using blockchain exertion to administer commercialized documents digitally could amended workflow and ratio and successful the agelong run, trim costs and guarantee compliance, helium added.