Jared Daniels
Staff Writer
After the passage of 13 blockchain laws, Wyoming is moving toward opening the first two cryptocurrency banks of an estimation of at least five.
“The newly passed laws attract companies to Wyoming, but a problem I can see is the regulation of the banks and cryptocurrencies,” said Pawan Jain, University of Wyoming assistant director of finance.
Cryptocurrency refers to a digital form of currency, which is considered to be better than our current forms of currency today because digital currency has a high security during transactions and can accurately verify those transactions. This means a person cannot send money they do not have or are spending in another transaction.
Cryptocurrency banks are banks that perform normal banking transactions and investing, with the integration of crypto currencies.
Jain described the furtherance of cryptocurrency as a good idea for Wyoming due to the cold weather to help the computers, including the land and wind to provide energy for cryptocurrency mining.
“We are dependant on energy and need a fall back, which could be cryptocurrencies,” Jain said.
These cryptocurrency banks could open as early as March 31, 2020. The benefits from the newly founded laws can be benefited by people outside Wyoming unless wanting to begin their own cryptocurrency chain. People outside of Wyoming can do this by storing the digital funds they have in a Wyoming bank, therefore benefiting from the laws passed without being in Wyoming.
“Cryptocurrency banking is good because banks are designed to work as a custodian, which may attract more investors to Wyoming,” said Jain.
The cryptocurrency legislation and opening of banks in Wyoming will also be beneficial for Wyoming’s economy, Jain said. Wyoming’s Blockchain Taskforce has estimated that 20 billion dollars could flow into Wyoming due to this advancement.
“I’m not sure how innovation will affect Blockchain, but we have not seen a financial crisis since the launch of cryptocurrency,” said Jain.
The passage of the 13 laws have made Wyoming an attractive place for cryptocurrency businesses. Cardano, a billion dollar cryptocurrency company responsible for the Ada currency, moved to Wyoming during the beginning of 2019.
The digital currency gets its worth from the supply and demand of the currency rather than being controlled or regulated. The current exchange rate between Bitcoin, one of the first crypto currencies, and the United States dollar is one Bitcoin to about 7,527.7 US dollars, according to the Business Insider website.
The Internal Revenue Service has deemed digital currencies as personal property, which are not reported on the Free Application For Student Aid (FAFSA).
“Financial aid funds are to be used for educational expenses. If a student receives a refund these monies should not be used for investment purposes,” said Debra Hintz, UW director of scholarships and financial aid.
