The legal marijuana market has had difficulty establishing banking relationships, given the disparities in local and federal regulation of cannabis sales. SinglePoint Inc. is developing a bitcoin-based option to address this concern.
Manager Ross Phillip stakes marijuana plants in a flower room at the grow facility for Sense of Healing dispensary in Denver, Colorado, U.S., on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015. The $3.5 billion U.S. cannabis market is emerging as one of the nation's most power-hungry industries, with the 24-hour demands of thousands of indoor growing sites taxing aging electricity grids and unraveling hard-earned gains in energy conservation. Photographer: Matthew Staver/Bloomberg *** Local Caption *** Ross Phillip
Matthew Staver/Bloomberg
SinglePoint is working with First Bitcoin Capital Corp., a bitcoin and blockchain technology company, to develop a bitcoin-based payment system for cannabis sellers.
“There is now tremendous momentum and demand for bitcoin acceptance as an alternative form of payment," Greg Lambrecht, SinglePoint's CEO, said in a June 6 news release. "This joint venture with First Bitcoin Capital is perfect timing. Bitcoin payments are catching on and cannabis dispensaries need a solution fast.”
The partners plan to distribute their offering as a downloadable application for point of sale machines.
The offering would compete with other pot payment innovations such as cashless ATMs and dedicated prepaid cards.
As it rolls out dozens of new products to up its game in stablecoins and artificial intelligence, the payment company is also working with sellers wishing to expand activities involving non-U.S. corridors.
Jim Richards, who served as the bank's head of anti-money-laundering compliance, says the Federal Reserve is wrongfully denying him compensation that was designed to keep him employed at Wells Fargo.
New Jersey-based ConnectOne Bancorp received FDIC approval for its merger with First of Long Island Corp; lending-services fintech Oportun makes changes to its board of directors; Associated Banc-Corp's Steven Zandpour will succeed David Stein as head of consumer and business banking; and more in this week's banking news roundup.
The Trump administration says it will nominate Jonathan McKernan to serve as Treasury undersecretary for domestic finance. McKernan has already been nominated as the next director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
