Despite the changes in the political leadership, the state of Wyoming is racing to showcase its prominence in the blockchain sector. The state is all set to become America’s New Crypto Valley. As per kgab.com, Mark Gordon, the new governor mentioned about Blockchain n his speech when he said-
“In just this last year, Wyoming has become the envy of the nation for its innovative approach to Blockchain with new startups like BeefChain and SheepChain. We can do more.”
The new governor lauded the state’s innovation and regulatory efforts for Wyoming’s startups. The legislature of Wyoming came with a bundle of surprises that unfolded one after the other as the new year started. For instance- on Jan 12th, the state of Wyoming passed two new blockchain and crypto related, then on Jan 17th, the U.S. State introduced a bill that tokenizes stocks, and recently on Jan 19th, Wyoming introduced a bill that targets to define the virtual currency as money. The surge of so many powerful advances can be drawn parallel to the series of advancements it made in March last year, when the Co-founder of the Wyoming Blockchain Coalition Caitlin said that the ‘state of Wyoming became the first elected body worldwide to define token as a new type of asset class which was different from a security or commodity.’
Although Wyoming is America’s least populous state, with its power moves, several blockchain startups can be seen have started to establish in the state. As per the reports from Cointelegraph, the state’s ‘biggest signing this year so far is the relocation of lohk (the company behind the Cardano Blockchain.)’
Wyoming VS other U.S. States-
Wyoming has certainly attracted a lot of attention and has proved its desire to rule the crypto scene in the country after recently introducing the bills that revolved around blockchain and cryptocurrency that broadly cover-
- Characterized three types of digital assets and treat them as property.
- Treating virtual currencies same as money.
- Permission for the banks to hold the digital assets in custody.
- Permitting corporations to grant certificate tokens representing shares.
- Establishing a clear and solid regulatory framework to smooth out the way for industry startups.
With such single-pointed focused radical moves the state of ranchers and miners- ‘Wyoming’ is sure to make the other states envy of their progress and blockchain savvy approach. The series of advancements in the crypto field is definitely making surprising the audiences.
Advertisement
Delaware is another state in the U.S. who has managed to gain a lot of attention. It is famous for its hospitality that goes beyond tech businesses. Delaware is often called ‘tax haven.’ It is now the hub that boasts almost half of all the U.S. public corporations. However, by far the policies around blockchain from Delaware still could not outshine those from Wyoming.
How does the virtual money benefit Wyoming?
One straight forward answer is the profits the state will make from the registrations and the incorporations fees. The State Rep. Tyler Lindholm, recently agreed that the state is referencing from the northeastern state. For example, Delaware’s approach is to attract a lot of newcomers and the profits can keep rolling if you keep the fees low which makes you end up attracting even more entities. Lindholm said that his state has been making around 30 million dollars just through fees, whereas Delaware is making around 1.2 Billion Dollars.
Another key point of the progressive structure of Wyoming is that it is trying to establish a totally new industry that didn’t even existed elsewhere. The state is doing do through its ‘digital asset custody bill.’ This not only gives power to the state’s banks to administer the digital assets but it also naturally makes it comply with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) rules and regulations. This will indeed make sure to harbor a clean structured and regulation complying new industry in the state.
Another point that we can note here is that the advancement made by the state is not just for the blockchain industry, but it is also an integral part of the ‘Economically Needed Diversity Options for Wyoming (ENDOW) program’ which was established in the year of 2017. From last year only one could see the developments in the blockchain sector by the state of Wyoming.
Lastly, Wyoming due to its heavy laws around the licensing requirements on the crypt exchanges repelled many exchanges away from the state. The ‘Wyoming Money Transmitters Act’ was passed in 2011 and came in full force by 2014. This act made crypto exchanges to stop their operations in the state by 2015. But due to the recent bills and changes in the law, the state is again able to attract those crypto exchanges back to Wyoming. One famous return is of Coinbase.
The diverse Blockchain Coalition of Wyoming-
Advertisement
Wyoming’s Blockchain Coalition is a group with a very diverse approach under its belt. It started with one of its prominent member named- Caitlin Long. Long heads blockchain startup called- ‘Symbiont.’ Since she could not donate to the University of Wyoming in the form of crypto, she suggested some improvements in the state laws. This is where the ‘Wyoming Blockchain Coalition’ came into existence. With time the group attracted several innovation-driven minds including several politicians, who lead to the radical bills the state boasts. For instance, as per the reports from Cointelegraph, Sen. Ogden Driskill ‘became involved with BeefChain, last year.’ It is a Wyoming based startup. It aims to track free range cattle. Another example is, ‘Rep. Typler Lindholm’ who is the chief of ranching for BeefChain.
The mixed approach which is multi-faceted is a smart approach for progress in the blockchain industry by the state of Wyoming. It will definitely fulfill the aims of ‘ENDOW’ program and will bring home a lot of expansion in the blockchain industry. By far the future of the state looks promising and should stay so till the minds working for it keep their feet on the ground and keep pushing the innovation further.
