Policymakers from the Wyoming state have proposed legislation which would allow the issuance of tokenized stock certificates using blockchain technology.

The bill was proposed from Jared Olsen (Republican), senator Chris Rothfuss (Democratic), and six other Republican representatives jointly filed House Bill 0185, called “Corporate stock-certificate tokens,” the proposition would allow people to use tokenized digital share certificates instead of paper-based versions.  

“The articles of incorporation or bylaws of a corporation may specify that all or a portion of the shares of the corporation may be represented by share certificates in the form of certificate tokens,” the proposed bill states.

According to the document, if HB0185 passed, share certificates will be able to be stored in an electronic format. Later, their information will be credited to a blockchain or other auditable database.. Then, that information will be digital transmitted to the issuing corporation, the person whom the certificate token was released and any transferee.

In order to make tokenized certificates eligible, two officers or directors of a corporation will also authorize the tokenized certificates by signing via the network signatures.

According to the document, if HB0185 passed into law, it would be effected from July 1, 2019.

Wyoming has been taking several legislative initiatives about blockchain use cases. The state signed in a legislative vote to approve blockchain startups to operate within a regulatory sandbox. Last February, it also passed a bill exempting some utility tokens from securities regulation.