Puna Could Also Be A Cryptocurrency Leader

[kalakoa]

if they were serious about "financial technology innovation"

The only "financial technology innovation" they're serious about is increasing tax revenue and figuring out how to collect more Federal bailout money.

[randomq]

The real innovation would be adopting a cryptocurrency as Hawaii's alternative to credit networks. Hawaii has a 90 billion GDP. Not sure what portion of that goes through payment and payroll processors, but 1-3% of it is taken off the top and sent straight out of the state. Say only half of those transactions are skimmed by the mainland, that's still about $900 million leaving our economy every year. If Hawaii created a "stablecoin" pegged to the US dollar, say with a fixed number of nodes run by local banks and credit unions, the transaction fees could be much lower. Local businesses could pay less than 0.5% in transaction fees, and there'd still be millions of dollars going to the banks to operate the blockchain. Credit terminal hardware could be replaced with Android and iPhone apps. Those without smart phones could continue to use cash or have paper wallets printed at the nearest bank or convenience store. Discounts for tourists to use the system. No more ridiculous processing fees for online payments to the county/state. NFTs storing all land ownership records, vehicle titles, registrations, insurance, business registrations, etc etc...

There is real value in a more efficient medium of exchange.

[terracore]

3% for a payment processor is a bargain compared to bitcoin:

https://ycharts.com/indicators/bitcoin_a...action_fee

[Kaimana]

The real innovation would be adopting a cryptocurrency as Hawaii's alternative to credit networks.  Hawaii has a 90 billion GDP.  Not sure what portion of that goes through payment and payroll processors, but 1-3% of it is taken off the top and sent straight out of the state.  Say only half of those transactions are skimmed by the mainland, that's still about $900 million leaving our economy every year.  If Hawaii created a "stablecoin" pegged to the US dollar, say with a fixed number of nodes run by local banks and credit unions, the transaction fees could be much lower.  Local businesses could pay less than 0.5% in transaction fees, and there'd still be millions of dollars going to the banks to operate the blockchain.  Credit terminal hardware could be replaced with Android and iPhone apps.  Those without smart phones could continue to use cash or have paper wallets printed at the nearest bank or convenience store.  Discounts for tourists to use the system.  No more ridiculous processing fees for online payments to the county/state.  NFTs storing all land ownership records, vehicle titles, registrations, insurance, business registrations, etc etc...

There is real value in a more efficient medium of exchange.

Not sure about some of the smaller coins, but the more mainstream ones are way too slow and transactions cost way too much to use it as a currency.

[Chas]

"Hawaii is the only state that made access to crypto exchanges illegal"

It is not illegal. 

Hawaii residents can access Crypto on the BlockFi.com exchange.

BlockFi also pays interest on your stored crypto. 

Keep in mind that crypto stored on exchanges is not as safe as in your own wallet, off the exchange.

[randomq]

I'm specifically talking about "stablecoins", which are pegged to the US dollar. And rather than use an existing coin that is speculated on, run our own coin for the county or state with a fixed number of miners/stakers. The end result would be super convenient, super cheap credit/payments with all the profit staying on island.

[terracore]

Sounds a lot like using cash.

[randomq]

Cash is great, until you don't have any on you, and then you pay 1-2% to take it out of an ATM, or use a credit card that charges the vendor 1-3%, which of course is factored into the prices you pay, even if you use cash...

Another neat thing about paper crypto is it can be password protected. So you can have some ones, fives, and tens in your wallet, but if someone steals them they can't be used (and you can recover their value when you get back to your computer/bank).

[terracore]

Recently, PayPal and Venmo (they are the same company) have allowed the buying, holding, and selling of crypto currencies to account holders, including the ability to make online purchases of goods and services with cryptos. The service is available in 49 states and US territories.

https://venmo.com/about/crypto/  "Buying, selling and holding cryptocurrency with Venmo is not available in Hawaii and where prohibited by law."

https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/arti...aq-faq4398

"What Cryptocurrencies does PayPal support?
Customers in the U.S. (except Hawaii) can buy, sell, hold, and pay at checkout with 4 different Cryptocurrencies on PayPal: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash.

Will this be available globally? When are you planning on launching internationally?
Currently, buying, selling, holding, and checkout with Crypto on PayPal is available in the U.S. (excluding Hawaii) and U.S. territories. All trades must be executed in USD."


This is why we can't have nice things. Generally, tourist destinations make it as easy as possible for tourists to leave money at the destination. Hawaii prefers to establish barriers. And to think I thought that this was the year I'd be paying for my Honolulu rail fare in cryptos!

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

I thought that this was the year I'd be paying for my Honolulu rail fare in cryptos!

How long have they been building HART?  I read this today, the Chinese high speed rail line to Tibet just opened:

A 435-kilometer (250-mile) rail line connecting Tibetan capital Lhasa with the city of Nyingchi entered into service on June 25...
Some 90% of the route, which took six years to construct, sits higher than 3,000 meters above sea level. 
The Lhasa-Nyingchi line features 47 tunnels and 121 bridges -- which account for about 75% of the whole route. This includes the 525-meter-long Zangmu Railway Bridge, the largest and highest arch bridge of its kind in the world.