Colorado Gov. Jay Polis says his state will allow residents to pay their taxes with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin starting this summer, as cities and states throughout the country vie to become the nation’s ‘crypto capital.’
Polis says the payments would go through an intermediary, who will convert the rapidly fluctuating digital currencies to US dollars that can be deposited into the state’s treasury.
One Bitcoin is currently worth 43,802.80, down from more than $67,000 in November.
‘It is kind of like credit card payments, with the bonus that there are no returned payments!’ the governor tweeted on February 23.
In an interview with CNBC last month, he said that he hopes to ‘roll that out for all of state government,’ accepting cryptocurrency for things like driver’s and hunting licenses, later this year.
Polis, 46, is a former tech entrepreneur who founded an internet access company, an online florist website and a greeting card website in the 1990s. His net worth was estimated at $313 million in 2015.
Colorado is among a handful of municipalities in the country hoping to turn themselves into hubs for the $3.3 trillion cryptocurrency market. The mayors of Miami and New York announced that they would take their first checks in Bitcoin last year, even as the technology has come under fire for its toll on the environment.
Colorado Gov. Jay Polis says his state will allow residents to pay their taxes with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin starting this summer
The digital currencies will go through an intermediary, who will convert them to US dollars that the state can actually use to pay for things, Polis clarified
A spokesman for Gov. Polis of Colorado called the move the ‘next logical step on the path to digital statehood’ in a statement to the Guardian.
‘Governor Polis is proud to lead efforts to create a strong and dynamic crypto ecosystem that puts Colorado at the forefront of digital innovation,’ said spokesman Conor Cahill.
The state has even hired a chief blockchain architect, Thaddeus Batt, who works under the office of information technology.
Denver, the capital, hosts an annual conference named ETHDenver, a two-week long hack-a-thon that drew 13,000 people this year, according to CNBC.
Polis has spoken to Wired about his crypto ambitions for Colorado.
‘It’s symbolic in sending a message that, yes, this is a form of payment we accept that is validated by the state of Colorado, just as we accept credit card payments for many purposes,’ he said.
Crypto transactions are recorded on a blockchain, a public ledger of transactions and balances that keeps users’ identity anonymous.
Polis has even suggested moving the state’s cattle brand system onto a public blockchain.
He noted that the current system that keeps track of what brands belong to what ranch ‘lends itself to ledgerization with a distributed ledger with tracking info, with recording access and transactions.
‘A distributed ledger method is one that can reduce transaction costs, improve security, and empower people with the information they need when they need it – including law enforcement, who would no longer have to check with somebody at the Colorado Department of Agriculture but would have access to what they needed when they needed it, and nothing more, nothing less,’ he told Wired.
The governor’s ambitions for cryptocurrency mirror those of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who called crypto ‘incredibly important to the future of the city’ in an interview with NPR.
The city unveiled its own MiamiCoin last year, with 30 percent of the revenue going to city initiatives, according to the Miami Herald.
Last year, the leading crypto website Blockchain.com moved its headquarters to Miami from New York City.
‘It’s the gateway to Latin America,’ Peter Smith, the website’s founder and CEO, told NPR. ‘It’s on the East Coast time zone. And more importantly, it’s probably the most excited city in the world about crypto right now.’
Polis, 46, is a former tech entrepreneur whose net worth was estimated at $313 million in 2015
But the process of earning cryptocurrencies has come under scrutiny from environmentalists for its tremendous use of energy.
Gov. Polis founded American Information Systems while at Princeton University in 1993.
The company provided internet service to college students who wanted to keep their access after they graduated, back when the internet wasn’t a widespread consumer service.
It sold for more than $22 million, according to the Denver Post. He and his father later started a separate e-card business, which sold for $780 million in 1999.
In 2005, he sold another business, the parent company of his online florist ProFlowers, for $477 million.
Polis became America’s first openly gay governor when he assumed office in 2019.
