On Wednesday, California, which would have the fifth-largest economy in the world if it was a nation, became the first US state to formally start monitoring how to broadly adapt to crypto and associated innovations, following a path established by President Joe Biden in March.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order for state agencies to proceed according to the federal government to design regulations for virtual currencies. It also calls for officials to explore including broader blockchain computer coding into the government operations of the state where much of the technological innovation of the world is incepted.

Dee Dee Myers, director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development and a senior advisor to Newsom said that flourishing crypto and blockchain technology is potentially an explosive creator of new firms, jobs, and opportunities.

California has around 39 million citizens and its economy is more than $3.1 trillion, larger on its own as a U.S. state than India and the UK. Newsom said his order is a move towards making it country’s first state to set up a thoughtful, comprehensive, and harmonized regulatory and business environment for cryptocurrency assets.