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.
Processing Content
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.
Daniel Wolfe is editor-in-chief of Digital Insurance. Most recently, he was director of data services at Arizent, which publishes DI and American... Read full bio
Russell Vought, testifying in front of the House Financial Services Committee for the first time in his tenure atop the bureau, was unapologetic about his attempts to cut the consumer protection agency and its regulation and supervision functions.
The investment banking giant has a hefty amount of excess capital, some of which is being used to meet client demand. At the same time, the company is open to opportunities to do bolt-on acquisitions, CEO Ted Pick said.
The ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee pressed the Federal Reserve chair for details on a Bank of America dinner that Gov. Michelle Bowman attended.
