Following another corruption scandal, the authorities of Puerto Rico is reportedly seeking to improve its anti-corruption efforts past adopting blockchain applied science.

Puerto Rican House Speaker Rafael "Tatito" Hernandez announced that lawmakers will agree meetings with local blockchain enthusiasts this month to talk over the potential adoption of blockchain engineering to reduce corruption.

The implementation of blockchain and smart contracts could bring more transparency and accountability to the public sector, the official said at a Puerto Rico Blockchain Trade Association conference, Bloomberg reported on Dec. vi.

"Nosotros have a real credibility problem and this might be office of the solution," Hernandez said, adding that there is also a broader effort to brand Puerto Rico a hub for crypto and blockchain innovation. According to the official, the emerging industry could be a way for the broke commonwealth to revive its economy.

"Dorsum in the 60s and 70s we had the niche of manufacturing. [...] This is a new niche, a new opportunity to create jobs," Hernandez said.

The speaker's comments came among growing corruption concerns in Puerto Rico as a local mayor reportedly pleaded guilty to accepting more than $100,000 of bribes in cash last calendar week.

Puerto Rico is non lone in exploring the potential anti-abuse capabilities of technologies like blockchain and digital currency. Last yr, the Ministry of Strange Affairs of Denmark reported on blockchain's potential to fight confronting authoritative and political corruption. The United Nations' drugs and crime agency likewise advised Kenya to use blockchain to combat authorities corruption in Nov 2022.

Related: Gibraltar's government plans to bridge the gap between public and individual sectors with blockchain

While multiple jurisdictions are looking at cryptocurrencies' underlying engineering as a tool to cutting corruption, Russia, similar other countries, prohibits the holding of crypto by its deputies and officials, citing corruption concerns.

One of the world's well-nigh decadent countries, Russia could, in fact, use crypto to reduce corruption, according to Maria Agranovskaya, a legal attorney and fintech expert in the Russian Land Duma. Agranovskaya told Cointelegraph that cash is way more popular for illegal activity similar corruption because it's more difficult to trace:

"If you convey proper KYC and AML at the start, crypto flows can exist much more piece of cake to trace, only proper rules of the game should be in place."