Minnesota Crypto Adoption on the Rise Despite Bear Market
Despite the recent market downturn, crypto use and adoption is gaining mainstream acceptance in Minnesota.
They can be used to buy clothes and food and are accepted at Home Depot, Whole Foods and Starbucks in the state, according to University of Minnesota professor Vivian Fang.
Paypal’s inclusion of a crypto payment option has enabled crypto spending at over two million online merchants in the U.S., Fang added, and large purchases are also making an impact. Purchases of real estate, travel and digital items, and charitable donations are made through cryptocurrency channels, said Joshua Held, chief strategy officer at OpenNode. The company helps companies add bitcoin to their payment processing.
Cryptocurrency ATM provider Coin Cloud has installed 159 kiosks in Minnesota and has also installed machines in North and South Dakota, according to Chris McAlary. The company targeted brick-and-mortar facilities because those are the places where customers are most likely to spend cash.
Kwik Trip, a gas station and convenience store operator with over 500 locations across Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa has partnered with bitcoin ATM provider Coinsource.
Fitness software entrepreneur Chad Capp, whose company is based in Osseo, Minnesota, is investigating how to allow gym memberships to be paid for with cryptocurrency through his company’s HelloGym software.
Fang said unbanked citizens are also a key market since crypto wallet operators do not require a bank account. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, in 2019, approximately 5.4% of the US population ̣ (approximately seven million residents) has a bank account. Much of this unbanked population comes from ethnic minorities such as Asian, black and Hispanic, who earn meager incomes and experience frustration when trying to enter the traditional banking system.
Fang says crypto provides an easy option where a credit score isn’t required.
What about enforcement?
As federal regulators grapple with how to bring enforcement to the sector, Minnesota state governments have taken steps to protect investors. The Minnesota Department of Commerce joined 31 states and the Securities and Exchange Commission in receiving a $100 million settlement for offering unregistered interest-bearing products to state residents. The state will receive 940,000 dollars from the campaign.
Two months ago, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) that Congressman for Minnesota’s 6th District, Tom Emmer, would work with Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama to advance a Senate bill that would prohibit the U.S. Department of Labor from determining the benefits of assets that can be included in 401(k ) plans.
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