A state legislative task force on blockchain technology heard subcommittee reports and agreed to pursue expert briefings and outreach, including coordination with Innovate Alabama, while continuing subcommittee work on regulatory information, consumer protection and public/private applications.

Representative Daniels, reporting for one subcommittee, said members "recognized the purpose of the subcommittee was to determine the use of blockchain technology in state government." He described the group’s approach as cautious: members are in a "wait-and-see mode" to track federal developments while reviewing other states’ models and inviting outside experts to educate the committee.

The meeting’s subcommittees reported concrete next steps. Representative Daniels and other subcommittee members emphasized learning from other states and convening additional stakeholders. Representative Shaw, who led the public/private application subcommittee meeting Dec. 12, said the group "went over the technology at a high level without getting too technical," and planned follow-up briefings on forensics and auditing to inform potential regulatory perspectives.

Senator Singleton and others noted examples of existing state approaches. Task force members discussed recently enacted state models that allow corporate governance or entity forms to be recorded or governed via blockchain-based structures, and several states (Wyoming, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia) were cited as having moved legislation addressing on‑chain governance or related corporate frameworks. Members also raised national topics including stablecoins and proposals for strategic bitcoin reserves and said the task force should monitor federal activity.

Consumer protection was a recurrent theme. The consumer-protection subcommittee, which met Nov. 14, flagged transparency, fraud prevention, consumer cost impacts (including energy costs) and commercial viability as priorities. The subcommittee said it will continue to monitor enforcement by state law‑enforcement authorities and nationwide consumer‑protection efforts and will invite law‑enforcement forensics experts and industry speakers to future meetings.

Members also raised technical risks and limits of local authority. Speakers discussed cyber‑security risks (including concern about future quantum computing capabilities) and how implementation could affect energy use, and noted that any local policy must account for limits on state authority and for federal rulemaking and federal monetary policy areas.

The task force agreed to a modest outreach plan: assemble a short list of entrepreneurs and firms for invited briefings (including Alabama‑based startups and firms with Alabama connections), coordinate with Innovate Alabama to help screen and schedule participants, and aim to hold a broader briefing session in March or April. Committee members said subcommittees should continue interim meetings and report back when they have invited speakers or received materials.

The meeting did not adopt formal legislation or take roll‑call votes on policy; members focused on next steps for education, stakeholder outreach and mapping statutory options reported in other states. Task force chairs asked staff and Innovate Alabama board members on the committee to compile potential presenters and to circulate meeting notes to members between sessions.

Members closed the session with a directive to stay in touch and provide meeting updates to the full task force as outreach and briefings are scheduled.