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Arizona has been quite enthusiastic in supporting its fintech industry and one of its latest efforts involves approving trial of payment for medical marijuana via stablecoin in its fintech sandbox.
A crypto company called Alta has basically been given the green light to trial payment services for cannabis in by Arizona’s Office of the Attorney General, a press release notes. As is the case with other stablecoins, what this firm will be offering will be based on the US dollar at a 1:1 basis.
The sandbox testing phase will see the firm testing its member onboarding and remittances platform.
As to why such a service would be noteworthy, in the first place, Atla COO Sarah Wessel explains how it could result in more safety for customers.
“The cash economy for legal cannabis in Arizona exceeds $350 million annually [...] These are legitimate companies, innovators and entrepreneurs that are forced to operate in cash. We offer them peace of mind. Our digital payment technology lifts the burdens of having to operate solely through cash and makes our communities safer,” Wessel said.
This is not the first time that a tech company has attempted to make it easier to pay for cannabis via online option instead of cash. Dash did the same thing back in 2017 via an arrangement that involved direct integration with retailer POS.
On that note, it isn’t surprising that this development occurred in Arizona. It launched a regulatory sandbox for the fintech sector back in 2018, Cointelegraph reports. It was an effort that was sponsored by Congressman Jeff Weninger (R).
"It's exciting to have Alta as the newest participant in Arizona's FinTech Sandbox. There's huge potential for stablecoin technology in cash-intensive businesses around the world, and Arizona is fortunate to play a critical role in the development and growth of this emerging industry," he had said at the time.
