---
type: "Bill"
title: "Recognizing the validity of distributed ledger technology."
description: "Recognizing the validity of distributed ledger technology."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2019-2020"
identifier: "SB 5638"
citation: "Washington SB 5638 (2019-2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["COMPUTERS", "BUSINESSES"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Brown"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 27
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2019-01-25"
last_action: "2019-04-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/23b655d6-bc6c-4ff7-8a51-94f24b949835"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5638&year=2019"
source_hash: "1c844085f2769868e04bd7d54ff1d9a91627dd3ced1562a4692d2d0bef679687"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-wa"]
---

# Washington SB 5638 (2019-2020) — Recognizing the validity of distributed ledger technology.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2019-20/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5638.htm)
2. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2019-20/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5638-S.htm)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#12) — **46–0** (pass) · upper
- Final Passage (#6) — **96–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Brown — primary (person)
- Becker — cosponsor (person)
- Rivers — cosponsor (person)
- Short — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-01-25** First reading, referred to Environment, Energy & Technology. `reading-1`
- **2019-02-19** ENET - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-02-20** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2019-03-05** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2019-03-06** 1st substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2019-02-19** ENET - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-02-20** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2019-03-05** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2019-03-06** 1st substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2019-03-06** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2019-03-06** Third reading, passed; yeas, 46; nays, 0; absent, 2; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2019-03-08** First reading, referred to Innovation, Technology & Economic Development. `reading-1`
- **2019-03-27** ITED - Majority; do pass.
- **2019-03-29** Referred to Rules 2 Review.
- **2019-04-10** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading.
- **2019-04-15** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2019-04-15** Third reading, passed; yeas, 96; nays, 1; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2019-04-16** President signed. `passage`
- **2019-04-18** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2019-04-22** Delivered to Governor.
- **2019-04-26** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2019-04-26** Chapter 153, 2019 Laws. `became-law`
- **2019-04-26** Effective date 7/28/2019. `became-law`
- **2019-02-13T13:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology at 08:30 AM
- **2019-02-19T15:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology at 10:00 AM
- **2019-03-19T14:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Innovation, Technology & Economic Development at 10:00 AM
- **2019-03-27T12:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Innovation, Technology & Economic Development at 08:00 AM

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/23b655d6-bc6c-4ff7-8a51-94f24b949835`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).