It was the buzz of the industry – everyone saw it as an another way to make bank….but it hasn’t worked out

It was the buzz of the marijuana world as legalization become the normal for more states. Everyone wanted to jump on the bandwagon. Cryptocurrency was offered as the answer for dispensaries who couldn’t take mainstream credits. Plus, weed aficionados could make money with “pot coins”. At the time, the industry was flooded with conferences and crypto was a topic on stage and at the wrap around events.  Mainstream and marijuana media ate it up. But, cryptocurrency has not changed the cannabis industry.

The biggest example cyptocurrency isn’t solving any major cannabis industry problem is the excited around the slow-moving Biden administration moving to reschedule and the Senate embracing SAFER Banking.  Both will have a significant impact on the entire industry generating jobs, investment and hope. Together they will create an atmosphere for mom and pop businesses and large operators to have a fair chance at success.

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One of the most high profile boom and bust crypto moments was in 2018. High Time just on the early coin moment and announced they would accept it as a way to invest in their IPO. Days later, theyremoved bitcoin as a payment option for its the yet to happen IPO.

Multiple firms wanted to exploit a perceived loophole to sell cannabis by credit card. Each company got close and then the effort failed. Posabit, now a specialized point-of-sales system for dispensaries, tried and made it work for a short period. In fact, the site updated its FAQ with a statement, saying “Why is credit card processing illegal? (…) Simple: Cannabis is categorized as a Schedule 1 controlled substance at the federal level, which makes it illegal. This hinders credit payment processors from deliberately working with cannabis businesses.”

Eaze, tried to find a workaround to be able to charge credit cards, by obfuscating the nature of the charges.  Then, Smoakland tried to do the same thing but surrendered when their process partner terminated the relationship.

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“Crypto has not changed the legal cannabis industry. It is not an accepted payment method at dispensaries, and I have not seen vendors using it either. However, crypto is popular for making black market purchases, as it is global and harder to trace.” stated Jesse Redmond, Head of Cannabis for Water Tower Research.

And how are the marijuana crypto companies doing?

PotCoin (POT) is trading at $0.00083517.

Tokes (TKS) is trading at $0.001874.

CannabisCoin (CANN) is trading at $0.004641.

Cryptocurrency has not changed the cannabis industry, but federal action will.