Lt. Govt. Robinson Announces New Appointments to NC Blockchain Initiative

RALEIGH — North Carolina Lt. Govt. Mark Robinson announced new appointments to the state’s Blockchain Initiative (NCBI).

“North Carolina is already home to many notable blockchain and FinTech startups, and we must do everything we can to keep our state competitive,” Robinson said in a press release. “We appreciate the incredible work this task force has done in researching this transformative technology, and we thank them for their continued service.”

NCBI was launched in 2019 as a non-partisan, volunteer task force overseen by the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina to serve as a primary resource on the emerging digital assets and blockchain ecosystems such as bitcoin, virtual assets, smart contracts and stablecoins.

According to a press release from Robinson’s office, NCBI will “explore the broader implications of this developing technology, gather information from private and public sources, follow policy recommendations, and strengthen our state’s position as a leader in technological innovation and consumer protection.”

“North Carolina is fortunate to have several national leaders on Capitol Hill focused on the crypto ecosystem, including Representative Patrick McHenry, Chairman of the US House Financial Services Committee, and US Senator Ted Budd, a leading voice on decentralized finance,” said Dan Spuller, who serves as co-chair of NCBI, and senior director of industry affairs for the Washington-based Blockchain Association.

“The passage of the bipartisan Sandbox Act of 2021 was a clear indicator that North Carolina is working to be a leader in the ecosystem,” said Agnes Gambill West.

New appointees include Gerald Wilkie, a bitcoin mining specialist with more than 10 years of mining experience, and Tobias Barbir, another bitcoin mining specialist who founded the International Bitcoin Mining Museum.

Task Force co-chairs will include the reappointment of Spuller along with six other individuals; Eric Proper, Stuart Russell, Agnes Gambill West, John Bridge, Faruk Okcetin and Jain Arun Singh.

Proper is the co-founder of Durham-based Emblem Vault and Unboxed Venture Studio.

Russell is an attorney for a financial institution and cryptocurrency investor. He previously served as chairman of the Forsyth County Board of Elections, chairman of the Forsyth County Bar Association and a member of the Board of Governors for the North Carolina Bar Association.

Gambill West is a professor at Appalachian State University, a visiting senior fellow at the Mercatus Center, an appointee to the North Carolina Innovation Council, a member of the Business and Consumer Payments Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, and a former NCBI co-chair.

Bridge is president of government security at Trust Stamp and has 34 years of law enforcement and military experience, including 25 years with the United States Marshals Service.

Okcetin is an entrepreneur who has started more than 10 different businesses over the past 29 years and is currently the Director of Operations at Zeto Inc., a medical device manufacturer.

Singh is the co-author of “Blockchain for Business” and is the head of IBM in Research Triangle Park.

More information about NCBI can be accessed at ncblockchain.tech