Should The Marijuana Industry Embrace Bitcoin?

[Honeybooboo]

So I would be very cautious in connecting these two things. For average Joe who does not have clue about bitcoin it would be very easy to connect shady substances with illegal sources of money etc. What can lead to bad press for bitcoin...

Let them think that. Bitcoin is a currency and you should be able to buy what you want with it.

But this would cause people who are not entirely aware of bitcoin's use to steer clear of it and prevent the mass adoption that we are trying to reach.

So we need bitcoin to be only used for buying puppies chocolate and flowers because people wont deal with it otherwise? Do these people throw their fiat away once they realize you can buy drugs and porn with it? No. Some may stay clear but time will prove them how silly they were top do so.

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[anonyymi]

i think is important to be able to buy mj for bitcoins to remain anonymity

[Honeybooboo]

i think is important to be able to buy mj for bitcoins to remain anonymity

That might be a good use for bitcoin on the darkweb and for illegal purchases but for the legal mj industry you'll likely need ID etc, though bitcoin could still be a great medium to pay with to avoid you being linked to the purchase or if your bank won't allow purchases at dispensaries. Some dispensaries even seem to have trouble finding banks who will work with them so bitcoin could find a use there too.

[Kazimir]

Any industry should embrace Bitcoin. It's simply a better payment system than fiat, period. Marijuana is no exception.

By the way, whether marijuana is "illicit" or not, is completely dependent of whether you live in a retarded state or country or not. Unfortunately, lots of countries have very retarded, inconsistent laws on drugs. They allow dangerous addictive harddrugs like alcohol, yet they forbid much less dangerous substances like marijuana. But that's a problem with the particular government, not with the money we use to pay for it.

[Shazam!!!]

For many people marijuana=crime. Places where marijuana is legal are very rare. So I would be very cautious in connecting these two things. For average Joe who does not have clue about bitcoin it would be very easy to connect shady substances with illegal sources of money etc. What can lead to bad press for bitcoin...

I agree. I'm all for legalization and believe it is Looooong over due. However, The foundation of Bitcoin is still very new and if we want to continue
building it stronger we should keep it clean. I live in a small town in Michigan, where medical use is legal and the older generations don't embrace that.
Also, I am one of a few in a population of about 2000 people who even know what bitcoin is!!! Now, go and tell these people we can use this new form
of currency to purchase weed over the internet or local providers and watch the REEFER MADNESS set in!!! They will hang our Bitcoin
in the town square and stone it!!! And this is one of thousands of small towns with "older ways" of thinkin'. Plus let us not forget these are the people who
run the court house and sit in the chairs at our state senate!!! First we need--- Bitcoin acceptance.

[nikona]

It definately will. I'm confident any market that's in shady areas, like adult video, weapon purchase... will seek the help of Bitcoin.

Yes mate.. I'll pretty confidant about it too.. Now that marijuana industry is growing..i think being linked with it will help both parties!

[traderman]

Yep, the boomer generation is a problem that needs to be dealt with, they are ignorant and closed minded unfortunately. They also trust everything the TV says!

For many people marijuana=crime. Places where marijuana is legal are very rare. So I would be very cautious in connecting these two things. For average Joe who does not have clue about bitcoin it would be very easy to connect shady substances with illegal sources of money etc. What can lead to bad press for bitcoin...

I agree. I'm all for legalization and believe it is Looooong over due. However, The foundation of Bitcoin is still very new and if we want to continue
building it stronger we should keep it clean. I live in a small town in Michigan, where medical use is legal and the older generations don't embrace that.
Also, I am one of a few in a population of about 2000 people who even know what bitcoin is!!! Now, go and tell these people we can use this new form
of currency to purchase weed over the internet or local providers and watch the REEFER MADNESS set in!!! They will hang our Bitcoin
in the town square and stone it!!! And this is one of thousands of small towns with "older ways" of thinkin'. Plus let us not forget these are the people who
run the court house and sit in the chairs at our state senate!!! First we need--- Bitcoin acceptance.

[amspir]

For many people marijuana=crime. Places where marijuana is legal are very rare. So I would be very cautious in connecting these two things. For average Joe who does not have clue about bitcoin it would be very easy to connect shady substances with illegal sources of money etc. What can lead to bad press for bitcoin...

If you believe in polls, legal recreational marijuana has recently exceeded 50% approval by American citizens.  I don't think that number is going down, and there is a significant number of investors getting involved with this new industry.

I think this is a limited opportunity for bitcoin.   Federal laws prohibit the marijuana industry from using the federal banking system for a federally prohibited substance.   

If the states of Colorado and Washington (and future legal states) want to protect their new industries and new tax revenue (rather than allowing it to revert to criminal cartels and dealing with government costs of prosecuting and imprisoning users and traffickers) then it would be in their best interests to promote the use of bitcoin within their states.

A useful bitcoin economy could gain a foothold outside of the banking system -- until the banking system wants their piece of the pie.   With some corporations spending more on federal lobbyists to preserve corporate tax loopholes and lower corporate tax rates than they actually spend on federal taxes, this will come sooner than later.

[Kazimir]

For many people marijuana=crime.

Yeah well, it's time for that to change.

For many people in the early 1990s, internet = some nonsense cyber toy for nerds.

[amspir]

For many people marijuana=crime.

Yeah well, it's time for that to change.

For many people in the early 1990s, internet = some nonsense cyber toy for nerds.

Do not forget that the majority of internet traffic in the early years was for the consumption of pornography.

[traderman]

LOL I think it still is.

For many people marijuana=crime.

Yeah well, it's time for that to change.

For many people in the early 1990s, internet = some nonsense cyber toy for nerds.

Do not forget that the majority of internet traffic in the early years was for the consumption of pornography.

[BittBurger]

I'm the one who created the "other" Marijuana thread on Reddit last week.

I was bewildered by the fact that they're pouring millions into security services to haul around bags full of cash instead of just using Bitcoin.

But the obvious thing I overlooked:  They cant use bitcoin because of its volatility.  In their case, they would *need* to keep it "all in bitcoin" with no cashing out to USD, because they have no banking.   In that scenario, Bitcoin is not a feasible solution.  The only people who can hold Bitcoin these days are speculators. 

-B-

[moriartybitcoin]

Yes, obviously!  I'm off to smoke a joint right now folks ...

[amspir]

But the obvious thing I overlooked:  They cant use bitcoin because of its volatility.  In their case, they would *need* to keep it "all in bitcoin" with no cashing out to USD, because they have no banking.   In that scenario, Bitcoin is not a feasible solution.  The only people who can hold Bitcoin these days are speculators. 

Chicken and egg problem.   If the marijuana industry sees that it is more efficient to deal with bitcoin rather than bricks of currency, and the state government has a self-interest in promoting the new industry, then it will promote the use of bitcoin as legal tender (paying state taxes), easing regulations for non-bank businesses to convert between dollars, etc.   Stores will be more interested in using a BitPay-like systems to accept payments since there will be a significant amount of people that work in the marijuana industry that get paid in bitcoin.   As a real bitcoin economy develops out of necessity, the bitcoin price will rise and become less volatile when it reaches a new equilibrium.



     

[Honeybooboo]

For many people marijuana=crime.

Yeah well, it's time for that to change.

For many people in the early 1990s, internet = some nonsense cyber toy for nerds.

I'm sure they said it would never take off or only be used for criminals as well.

For many people marijuana=crime.

Yeah well, it's time for that to change.

For many people in the early 1990s, internet = some nonsense cyber toy for nerds.

Do not forget that the majority of internet traffic in the early years was for the consumption of pornography.

Exactly. New technologies are always usually adopted by geeks and criminals because they know when they see a good thing, but it takes a while for the mainstream to get on board.

[Rum152]

I'm the one who created the "other" Marijuana thread on Reddit last week.

I was bewildered by the fact that they're pouring millions into security services to haul around bags full of cash instead of just using Bitcoin.

But the obvious thing I overlooked:  They cant use bitcoin because of its volatility.  In their case, they would *need* to keep it "all in bitcoin" with no cashing out to USD, because they have no banking.   In that scenario, Bitcoin is not a feasible solution.  The only people who can hold Bitcoin these days are speculators. 

-B-

I would disagree with this. A weed dispensary could sell the bitcoin they receive from their sales either automatically via bitpay/coinbase or they could sell it manually every day via any exchange. There is no reason why they need to hold the bitcoin they receive, although it would probably make sense to hold a portion of it.

They could potentially generate a large number of private keys offsite, one for each anticipated customer and provide the public addresses to the physical stores every day and then push transactions that are sending their receipts to an exchange

[Possum577]

Definitely! These companies are having a hard time getting traditional banks and credit card providers to service their business transactions because of the type of business they do. Bitcoin has no such discrimination!

[pitham1]

The marijuana industry definitely should. The advantages of using Bitcoin are manifold.

The possible drawback for Bitcoin is that this would perpetuate the belief that bitcoins are primarily used by drug dealers and cyber-criminals.

[traderman]

Eventually they will probably get on board the bitcoin train like everyone else.

[Kazimir]

The marijuana industry definitely should. The advantages of using Bitcoin are manifold.

The possible drawback for Bitcoin is that this would perpetuate the belief that bitcoins are primarily used by drug dealers and cyber-criminals.

But marijuana has nothing to do with criminals (cyber or not). Marijuana is getting legalized in more and more states.

By the way, you can already pay with Bitcoin in tons of bars and restaurants. They obviously sell alcohol. Doesn't that link Bitcoin to drugs?