Wyoming is moving toward becoming the first state to offer a state cryptocurrency, Governor Mark Gordon has revealed.
Speaking at a conference in Jackson Hole on Thursday, Gordon revealed that the state is working on its own stable token, or stablecoin, which it plans to launch next year.
According to Cowboy State Daily, he said, “We want to do it right. We want to find the right methodology to be able to implement it. We’ve done a lot of this work.
In May, the state passed the Wyoming Stable Token Act, which created a commission to study the issue and provide stable tokens, which are typically tied to another asset such as the dollar.
Wyoming is one of the first states in the country to explore having its own cryptocurrency, which Gordon says underscores his commitment to innovation.
In May, the state passed the Wyoming Stable Token Act, which created a commission to study the issue and provide stable tokens, which are typically tied to another asset like the dollar
Speaking at a conference in Jackson Hole on Thursday, Governor Gordon, seen here, revealed that the state is working on its own stable token, or stablecoin, which it plans to launch next year
He added: “For the state, this is a wonderful way to help diversify our economy. It’s exciting to see, as a lot of trust companies have started to move here, financial firms that are looking at Wyoming, realizing that we have the ability to be first relatively quickly and intelligently.
“Innovation is in our DNA. That’s why Wyoming was the first to have the LLC law. (Digital) innovation has really developed within several pieces of legislation and it’s really remarkable where we are now.
“I’m excited that we in Wyoming can continue to work hard to make sure that this is a business-friendly environment, that taxes are low and that we can encourage innovation.”
According to CNBC, the state is currently vetting potential partners to help build the stable token.
This will require exchanges and wallet providers, Coinbase and Kraken offer both, to purchase and hold the token.
The government plans to issue the token on an exchange so that it can then issue it to a retail user.
From there, it will just be another payment method for buying everyday things, according to Flavia Naves, commissioner of the Stable Token Commission.
She said on the way out:When you go into Cowboy Coffee in Jackson, Wyoming and you want to buy a latte, there in Solana will be their wallet that you can use to buy your coffee with the Wyoming token.
The government plans to issue the token on an exchange so that it can then issue it to a retail user
Naves also said the commission plans to invest reserves that back each token in circulation and use the interest to make investments in public schools.
Despite the governor’s enthusiasm for the project, not everyone in the state is convinced the tokens offer enough to continue with the risks.
Wyoming Banking Association President/CEO Scott W. Meyer told the Cowboy State Daily, “Right now, I just think we have a huge area of unknowns.
“I wouldn’t say your community banks in Wyoming necessarily oppose it, but they don’t necessarily support it. They’re all just watching how it affects our industry.
He worries about how stable the token would work. Customers will come in to buy tokens, which the government will then buy into tokenized US Treasury bills to back that token as well as hold cash in reserve.
Mayer suggested that the problem lies in what happens to the value of these notes when interest rates rise and someone wants to exchange their token for their money back.
Despite the governor’s enthusiasm for the project, not everyone in the state is convinced the tokens offer enough to take on the risks
Although there will be cash, the government will have to sell the Treasury bills to make the transaction happen.
He added: “But if you have 2% Treasury bills and all of a sudden interest rates go up, well, you can’t sell it because nobody will want to buy it. These are the things the market will play funny for.
Mayer also fears a withdrawal of money from the system, which could create a shortage that could have ripple effects on the economy.
He added: “Let’s say a bank in Wyoming has a customer who wants to invest $100,000 in Wyoming Stable Token.”
“That money is now out of our system. And maybe that’s a good thing or maybe that’s a bad thing, depending on how you look at it, but from a banking perspective, that’s $100,000 that’s not in the bank. That’s $100,000 that the bank can’t borrow.
The decision to move forward with crypto has already had its ramifications, with Gordon listing stress tests and federal agencies that have hindered smaller banks.
He added:The Federal Reserve is now more of an obstacle to innovation than an opportunity to put America first, to make sure the dollar remains the standard we all want to see.
“But it’s also the CFPB, it’s the SEC, it’s the FDIC that are interested in trying to debank the relationship between digital assets and banks, which is a major part of what we’re trying to do here in Wyoming.”
In March this yearthe price of bitcoin hit an all-time high of $69,000 as people continued to pour their savings into the currency.
The price of the currency surpassed its previous peak from $69,202 as of November 2021 and has made a huge comeback since its mid-2022 crash that saw its value drop by nearly two-thirds.
The record high was fueled by the US securities regulator approving 11 bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), allowing them to be bought and sold like stocks.
While corporate investors and young people using smartphone apps have been able to invest in Bitcoin for years, the EFT approval opened the company up to a new goldmine of investors — namely those between the ages of 60 and 78.
This allowed the less tech-savvy boomers born between 1946 and 1964 to have better access to buying and tracking crypto. Instead of investing pension funds in more traditional stock exchanges, retirees are buying bitcoins.