Eight months after the North Carolina House gave the green light to the state treasurer to invest a small percentage of the state’s pension fund in cryptocurrencies, a legislative committee met Wednesday to explore alternative uses for blockchain and digital assets.
Rep. David Willis acknowledged that while there’s still a big learning curve for many legislators, there is also great opportunity.
“We’re here to talk about real-world applications that can be used for government efficiency and accountability,” said Willis.
The Union County Republican said North Carolina needs to position itself to leverage the technology and be at the forefront of an industry that’s going to create new jobs and new companies.
Michael Postupak, the policy engagement manager for the nonprofit Blockchain Association, told lawmakers that to understand the benefits, it helps to visualize blocks in a blockchain as data where new transactions can be added. New blocks of data are connected through cryptography, essentially a unique digital fingerprint or ‘hash.’ And as more blocks are added, more cryptography enters the system, becoming a much stronger record.
Postupak said owners have full control of their digital assets with a public address and a private digital key.
“Blockchains are powered by a global, decentralized distributed network of computers that verify, secure and digitally store information,” Postupak explained. “With these networks being supported by hundreds, if not thousands, of computers globally, the chance that there’s ever a network failure is almost zero.”
“So, who are these decentralized computers? How do we know that’s a trustworthy source?” asked Rep. Allison Dahl (D-Wake).
Rep. Allison Dahl (D-Wake) questions whether blockchain is suitable for online voting. (Photo: NCGA video stream)Postupak said the number of computers in the network prevents the information from being tampered with. In Bitcoin’s vast network of thousands of computers, to take control of the network, you would have to have control over 50% of the computers in that network, he said.
“Could we use this blockchain technology for voting online?” Dahl asked. “Would that make it safer for casting ballots or for military people to cast ballots from overseas?”
“I know that’s something that countries and municipalities around the world are looking at,” said Postupak, who added he would need more time to research the question.
Anthony Janocko with New York-based Ava Labs, said California’s DMV is a good example of how governments can use the technology. Their blockchain infrastructure has been enormously successful in digitizing 42 million car titles.
“That’s another way you can think about digital assets — it’s basically taking something that exists in the real world, then applying it to the framework of blockchain technology, allowing for some of the digital ownership and provability of those assets online,” said Janocko.
In the case of the California DMV, residents had access to verifiable digital credentials and the ability to check on the status of their digital titles.
“Each event or digital asset or title in its lifecycle process was basically being tacked onto the blockchain,” Janocko explained.“When users or DMV workers need to look up certain titles, they’re able to see that full history.”
Janocko said the end result is an auditable log of all the previous transactions that exist on a ledger, reducing time during an audit or reconciliation. He said it’s a far better system than a traditional database, which often cannot be shared across agencies.
“What the blockchain solved with this case is, it created a tamper-proof system of record of ownership of vehicles, allowing for real-time updates and verification of history of those specific titles,” he said.
Janocko said the blockchain infrastructure is not about rebuilding government systems from scratch. Rather, it’s about adding a modern shared system of records underneath that can be referenced with a high degree of integrity.
Rep. David Willis (R-Union) wants North Carolina to be at the forefront of this new industry. (NCGA video stream)Wyoming is exploring blockchain technology with the first state-issued stable token. In its pilot, real-time government contractor payments using the token, managed on a blockchain network, reduced the timelines for payouts from 45 days to just a few seconds.
John Bridge of the Atlanta-based firm Trust Stamp said blockchain is being used in Africa to digitize property records and improve accountability.
A permissioned blockchain allows multiple agencies to access the records, with the chain recording if any errors were made, when a correction occurred, and who made the correction.
“We’re able to see that full data. That increases transparency and trust in the system. And then it also speeds up the sales and transfers,” explained Bridge.
Baltimore County is using the technology in a pilot project to more accurately assess distressed properties, said Bridge. Payment and delinquency events can be tracked more easily, improving collections efficiency.
Improving services at the DMV and revenue collection are two areas that hold great appeal for North Carolina lawmakers heading into 2026.
While Wednesday’s committee hearing was for informational purposes, Rep. Willis said it was clear that blockchain technology is the future of data retention.
“This isn’t just a fad. Whatever we can do to help get ahead and craft what that’s going to look like and for the betterment of North Carolina and the efficiency of our government, we’re all for it,” said Willis.
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