Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have come up with a cryptocurrency concept that could enable electricity to be distributed between users without the need for an electrical grid system.

The concept, called E-Stablecoin, seeks to address digital asset stability concerns by not relying on a centralized authority or payment mechanism to function, the national lab said Monday.

The researchers used information theory and statistical mechanics to come up with a stablecoin token that is fully decentralized and backed by a physical asset with stable value.

“Any anonymous party can mint an E-Stablecoin token with the input of roughly one kilowatt-hour of electricity. They can then transact with the digital token like any other cryptocurrency, or even turn it back into usable electricity — all without the need for electrical power companies, electrical transmission lines, permissions or authorities,” said Maxwell Murialdo, a Lawrence Livermore researcher and co-author of the paper published in the journal Cryptoeconomic Systems. 

“It is a trustless system from top to bottom,” added Murialdo.

Researchers developed the blockchain concept through the Laboratory Directed Research and Development program.

Senate and House lawmakers are advancing a bipartisan bill that would direct U.S. investors and companies to disclose outbound investments in countries considered as adversaries as part of efforts to rebuild supply chains and safeguard critical U.S. technologies, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Sens. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, first proposed the bill, which would authorize the executive branch to establish an interagency panel to evaluate and ban foreign investments on the grounds of national security and is part of a larger legislative package aimed at strengthening U.S. competitiveness with China, according to a revised draft of the bill obtained by WSJ.

“Creating an outbound investment review mechanism is a critical tool as Congress works to provide guardrails on taxpayer funds and safeguard our supply chains from countries of concern, including the People’s Republic of China,” Casey, Cornyn and five House lawmakers said in a statement Monday.

The bill would allow the federal government to block certain transactions in any “country of concern,” including joint ventures that involve the transfer of intellectual property, private equity and other capital contributions, construction of new facilities and other greenfield investments.

According to the measure’s text, the legislation would direct U.S. entities and affiliates to inform the government of activities in China involving technologies and sectors that are deemed critical to supply chains.

These include semiconductors, rare-earth elements, artificial intelligence, hypersonics, autonomous systems, financial technologies, quantum computing, biotechnology and large-capacity batteries.

The Senate approved Kenneth Wainstein by 63-35 vote Tuesday to serve as the Department of Homeland Security’s undersecretary for intelligence and analysis.

The two-decade government service veteran received confirmation seven months after being nominated by President Biden to lead the office responsible for developing intelligence from non-federal and industry partners for DHS and the intelligence community.

Wainstein most recently served as a litigation partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell’s Washington, D.C., office. He worked under the Bush administration as homeland security adviser and was the first assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice’s national security division.

“I look forward to working with Ken as he leads I&A in its critical mission to share timely and actionable information and intelligence with our partners across every level of government, in the private sector, local communities, and the public to help keep Americans safe,” said Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of DHS and a previous Wash100 Award winner.

Mayorkas noted that acting I&A undersecretary Melissa Smislova will focus on her other role as acting principal deputy undersecretary in the same office.