On Wednesday, the House of Lords passed the Electronic Trade Documents Bill that would eventually use Blockchain technology as a storage option.
The government of the United Kingdom has passed a bill that could lead to it using blockchain technology to store documents.
In a press release, the government says that it wants to move away from using paper for official documents.
The House of Lords passed the Electronic Trade Documents Bill on Wednesday. This will make it legal to use electronic documents, which will cut carbon emissions by at least 10%.
The decision moves the U.K. closer to its goal of becoming a hub for crypto and blockchain. Several members of parliament and the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Richard Fuller, have backed the idea.
The release said that blockchain and distributed ledger technology could be used to make tracking electronic documents easier. This would also make them safer.
U.K. Digital Secretary Michelle Donelan said, “The UK was a key player in setting up the international trade system in the 1800s, and we are once again leading the world to boost global trade in the 2000s.”
Lord Holmes of Richmond, a columnist for City AM and a supporter of cryptocurrency and the blockchain technology that makes it work, said that the new law could have huge benefits.
“The Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) thinks that if 50% of the container shipping industry switched to electronic bills of lading, the world would save around £3 billion,” he said.
“It’s crazy that paper documents are still used in an industry worth £1.266 trillion to the UK. This change will change the way trade works, and it will also show how the UK can be at the forefront of laws that help new technologies.
