Ben Bartlett Uses Crypto to Buy Cannabis – Details

Ben Bartlett Uses Crypto to Buy Cannabis

Ben Bartlett, a Californian politician has become the first elected official to use cryptocurrency to purchase cannabis in the United States.

A press release on September 11th revealed that Berkely City Councilmember Ben used Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and the stablecoin Universal Dollar (UPUSD) to make the purchase at Ohana Cannabis.

The purchase was part of a live demonstration of crypto-financial technology conducted by blockchain company Cred and the Blockchain Advocacy Coalition. Blockchain Advocacy Coalition is a group of California-based businesses and consumers that work to promote transparent blockchain legislation at a state and national level.

The initiative forms part of the Blockchain Advocacy Coalition’s sponsorship of a new bill (AB 953) that would enable California to accept cannabis tax remittance through stablecoin.

The transaction involved Ohana accepting Bitcoin Cash by using Cred’s LBA token as a translation utility, with sales and city tax proceeds settled in Universal Dollar.

In a statement, Dan Schatt co-founder of Cred and the Universal Protocol Alliance said:

“Not only does crypto result in significant cost reduction for consumers and merchants, but it also enables highly productive tax collection, transparency, and predictability for city and state governments.”

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