Missouri bill would foster blockchain use, bar local tax penalties on digital payments

Representative Burns opened the committee’s hearing on House Bill 1136, a bill the sponsor described as a framework to foster blockchain innovation in Missouri and to prevent state or local governments from imposing additional taxes or charges on digital‑asset payments that would not apply to other forms of payment.

Burns told the committee the goal is twofold: to allow businesses and individuals to accept payment in digital currency without being subjected to new or special municipal taxes, and to encourage non‑crypto uses of distributed ledgers such as supply‑chain tracking or land‑record verification. She emphasized that “not all blockchain needs crypto” and pointed to potential efficiency gains, such as tracing produce origins to reduce waste in food recalls.

Committee members noted that definitions in the four bills heard that night overlap and asked the sponsor to coordinate drafting across bills to avoid conflicting language. Representative Walsh Moore asked about merchant costs and whether businesses would face fees similar to credit‑card merchant fees; Burns said businesses could accept digital currency but would not be required to do so and that practical fee arrangements would likely be a market decision.

Burns and other members said they expect to work across committee staff to harmonize definitions and to ensure consumer protections and local‑government prerogatives are considered while creating a framework to attract digital‑asset innovation to Missouri. No vote was taken at the hearing.