A woman wearing a protective face mask is seen in Krakow, Poland on March 25, 2020. Poland's ... [+] government decided that due to the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, new limitations will be introduced across the country, such as rules preventing leaving home unless justified. (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The first quarter of 2020 has been one-of-a-kind. What started as business as usual morphed into unprecedented times with the growth of corona virus. Despite the distraction caused by the virus, there were some noteworthy events occurred in this quarter in the cryptocurrency tax space.

The Virtual Currency Fairness Act was introduced to the House on January 6, 2020. This bill includes a de minimis exemption of up to $200 of capital gains for personal cryptocurrency transactions. Essentially, this would allow cryptocurrency users to buy the proverbial cup of coffee without having to calculate their taxes on the transaction. This was well received among crypto enthusiasts. Making small personal cryptocurrency transactions nontaxable is a great initiative to promote cryptocurrency usage as a medium of exchange for every day use as opposed to a speculative asset.

Its hotly debated how to report staking income for tax purposes. Experts take different positions as to the type and timing of income. In the absence of any tax guidance, it could be argued that staking rewards are taxed similar to rental income, at the time of the receipt. Meanwhile, some experts argue that staking rewards should NOT be taxed at the time of receipt; rather they should be taxed only when they are disposed of. The controversy in this area seems to be an ongoing discussion in the crypto tax community.

We also saw several comment letters being addressed to the IRS and other regulators by various organizations such as AICPA, NY State Bar Association, and the Wall Street Blockchain Alliance.

These letters demanded more clarity on tax treatment for various types of cryptocurrency transactions such as airdrops, forks, as well as timing of income recognition and valuation challenges.

On February 12, 2020, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published the Virtual Currencies: Additional Information Reporting and Clarified Guidance Could Improve Tax Compliance (GAO-20-188) report after analyzing IRSs efforts in the crypto tax compliance space. The GAO reviewed IRS forms and interviewed various stakeholders such as IRS officials, FinCEN, other federal agencies, tax practitioners, and crypto exchanges to produce this report. The GAO pointed out that 2019 FAQs issued by the IRS may not be binding and demanded the service to strengthen information reporting standards and provide more clarity on Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) reporting. This report also asked FinCEN to provide clear guidance on FBAR filing requirements for cryptocurrency users.

Until early February, gaming tokens such as Robux and V-bucks were also considered to be virtual currencies per the IRS website What is Virtual Currency section. The IRS added and suddenly deleted this guidance from their website raising many eyebrows in the tax space. If it had stood, this guidance would have subjected millions of parents to calculate taxes on their childrens online video gaming habits to the same degree of detail that American taxpayers have to take with their cryptocurrency tax reporting. After many legitimate questions were raised by the public and the media on this matter, the service removed gaming tokens from the definition of virtual currency on the IRS website.

For the first time ever, millions of US taxpayers had to start answering the crypto question on the IRS Schedule 1. The question asks At any time during 2019, did you receive, sell, send, exchange, or otherwise acquire any financial interest in any virtual currency?

On March 3, 2020, the IRS held an invite-only Virtual Currency Summit at the IRS headquarters in Washington, DC. This event included stakeholders in the crypto community such as exchanges, crypto tax software companies, tax practitioners and crypto advocacy groups. This was the first of its kind and showed the services effort to learn more about the intricacies of the crypto compliance industry.

As we came closer to the end of this quarter, COVID-19 lockdowns started affecting everyones day-to-day lives. In order to provide tax relief during this difficult time, the US Department of the Treasury and the IRS extended both the tax filing and payment deadlines to July 15, 2020. This offered cryptocurrency taxpayers much needed relief when it comes to paying their taxes. This is the first time in the US history this has happened.

In conclusion, Q1 2020 revealed that the IRS has started showing some notable steps towards improving cryptocurrency tax compliance. Although these efforts have been somewhat slowed by COVID-19 crisis, its clear that the service will actively look into the cryptocurrency space as the situation returns to normal.

Disclaimer: this post is informational only and is not intended as tax advice. For tax advice, please consult a tax professional.

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What Happened In Cryptocurrency Tax Space In Q1 2020 - Forbes

The pressures on for Congress to pass a $2 trillion spending bill to thaw the frozen economy. While they negotiate the largest ever emergency relief bill in US history, markets are getting restless. Stock futures have been volatile as the bill makes progress and stalls, then makes progress and stalls again. Voters are getting restless too. Both sides are badgering each other to Hurry! while negotiating a $2 trillion transaction with other peoples money.

Any time either side of the partisan divide has a scruple, the other party attacks them for holding up the bill. They insinuate the other side doesnt care about all the people who are hurting right now. Of course, a swarm of each partys rank and file supporters also join in the shouting. The farther you zoom out from the picture, the more ludicrous the entire affair looks from afar.

Further, so much of the bill, styled as an emergency stimulus package, is just a massive grab bag of goodies and pork-barrel spending for bloated Washington bureaucracies America can definitely live without, and special interest groups with lobbyists on K Street. $25 million for the JFK Center for the Performing Arts. $75 million for the National Endowment for the Arts. $75 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities. And a monster $500 billion slush fund for Treasury Secretary Mnuchin to dole out to corporations at his discretion with little oversight.

When a terrible crisis strikes, politicians and special interest groups huddle together in Washington and grab all the money and power, they can possibly get their hands on. Its the American way. Washington did this to Americans during the 2008 Financial Crisis with Bushs $700 billion Wall Street bailout in 2008, and Obamas $831 billion stimulus bill in 2009.

At least in 2008, many Americans put up a fight about it. They tried to melt the Congressional switchboard calling their representatives to urge against these massive appropriations. Today America is so slavish and afraid because of coronavirus that even Trumps anti-socialist supporters are eager to get their checks.

And the $2 trillion stimulus package at the center of all this drama is dwarfed by the money the Federal Reserve is pumping into the banking system. Top White House economist Larry Kudlow says itll amount to $4 trillion. And Congress doesnt actually have any of the money for its spending bill. Its borrowing all of that, so the Fed will have to create most of it out of thin air. Just like the $4 trillion its creating to shore up banks. That will make the entire monetary expansion $6 trillion in total.

The entire adjusted monetary base is currently $3.3 trillion. So the monetary-political complex is about to triple the money supply in the coming months. Thats what they did in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Quite more than doubled it actually. And that crisis not only gave us Bitcoin but saw it rise in price so dramatically until 2017, it became the greatest investment in world history by ROI. Thats how highly sought after something like Bitcoin is for merchants and investors.

Expanding the fiat money supply at such breakneck speed will not necessarily make cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin more valuable. But it will drive monetary inflation that causes dollars to depreciate against Bitcoin, driving its nominal value higher. Though, the result of this exercise in fiscal and monetary madness will likely be increased demand for crypto. People looking for an inflation shelter will have a powerful instrument in the intensely deflationary cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Bullish.

* Disclaimer: This article is the opinion of the author and does not represent professional financial or investing advice.

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What Will $6 Trillion in Monetary Expansion Do To Cryptocurrency? (Opinion) - CryptoPotato

Basic Attention Token (BAT), the native cryptocurrency of the Brave Browser, spiked by more than 16 percent following a Binance trading widget integration.

The Brave team said:

Brave Software and Binance, the global blockchain company behind the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume and users, today announced a partnership that enables Brave browser users to seamlessly trade cryptocurrency assets through Binance.

The partnership allows users of Brave Browser to trade cryptocurrencies on Binance on the new tab page of the browser.

The Brave Browser remains as one of the few products with a native cryptocurrency to have millions of active users on a monthly basis.

In January 2020, Brave Software co-founder and CEO Brendan Eich said that the number of active monthly users using the Brave Browser surpassed 11.2 million.

He said:

Brave finished 2019 with 11.2M MAU & 3.5M DAU. Since then DAU has passed 3.7M DAU, and growth continues.

That is more than a 10 percent increase in user growth within a two-month span, after seeing 8.7 million users in October 2019.

Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, said that the long-term partnership with Brave will increase the utility of cryptocurrencies.

Zhao said:

The Binance widget on Braves privacy-oriented browser instills a safer way to buy and sell crypto and also reduces user friction to onboard, trade and interact with the Binance ecosystem. We are looking forward to our long-term partnership with Brave to make it even easier to interact with crypto and encourage more utility in the near future.

The recovery in the price of BAT comes at a much needed time of the year; since January 1, the price of the BAT cryptocurrency fell by nearly 50 percent against the USD.

It fell substantially as the Bitcoin price dropped sharply from $8,000 to sub-$4,000 on March 12, in one of the steepest pullbacks in the markets history.

Since bottoming out at $0.099 in mid-March, the price of BAT has increased by around 70 percent to $0.162.

The sharp correction of the U.S. stock market and the global financial sector led to a short-term decline in the valuation of the entire cryptocurrency market.

But, the industry has seen significant positive developments over the past three months. Most notably, the Supreme Court of India dismissed the circular issued by the Reserve Bank of India to prohibit cryptocurrency trading.

Investments in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry have declined year-over-year, primarily due to the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic in key cryptocurrency markets such as China, South Korea, the U.S., and Europe.

Yet, industry leaders and major companies within the sector are working toward strengthening the infrastructure supporting cryptocurrencies, similar to every previous bear cycle in the last ten years.

Since 2009, Bitcoin has seen a repeated cycle of a bear market-build phase-accumulation phase-bull market many times over. Following every bear cycle, the industry had come out stronger in terms of fundamentals.

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Why this cryptocurrency just surged 16% on news of a key Binance partnership - CryptoSlate

Cryptocurrency and ransomware have had a long history together. They are so closely intertwined, in fact, that many have blamed the rise of cryptocurrency for a parallel rise in ransomware attacks.

Ransomware attacks are certainly increasing they rose by 118% in 2018 but its not clear that this is due to cryptocurrency. While the vast majority of ransoms are paid in crypto, the transparent nature of these currencies actually means that they are a pretty bad place to hide stolen funds.

In this article, well take a look at the relationship between cryptocurrency and ransomware, as well as what the future holds.

There are at least two ways in which cryptocurrency is important for ransomware attacks. The first one is the most obvious the majority of the ransoms paid during these kinds of attacks are generally in cryptocurrency. This was the case, for instance, in the WannaCry ransomware attacks, still the largest attack of its kind in history. Victims of the attack were instructed to send roughly $300 of Bitcoin (BTC) to their attackers.

There is another way in which crypto and ransomware are intertwined, though. Today, plenty of hackers are offering ransomware as a service, essentially letting anyone hire a hacker from online marketplaces. If you are so inclined, you can even buy ransomware off-the-shelf from these marketplaces. Both of these services can be paid for in youve guessed it cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency is also implicated in many other forms of cyberattack. Cryptojacking a form of attack that uses victims computers to mine cryptocurrencies is also on the rise, and new forms of malware such as Adylkuzz can be used by almost anyone with even a slight level of technical knowledge. Though these forms of attack are not technically ransomware, they further suggest the deep relationship between cryptocurrency and cybercrime.

At first glance, it seems obvious that ransomware hackers would demand payment in cryptocurrency. Surely these currencies, based on anonymity and encryption, offer the best place to store stolen funds?

Well, not really. There is actually a different reason why ransomware attacks make use of cryptocurrencies. As Coin Center director of research Peter Van Valkenburgh wrote in 2017, it is the efficiency of cryptocurrency networks, rather than their secrecy, that attracts hackers. As he later put it:

Its electronic cash, so its easy to write software that can automatically demand payment and automatically demand that payment has been made.

The value of cryptocurrency during a ransomware attack is actually the transparency of cryptocurrency exchanges. A hacker can simply watch the public blockchain to see if victims have paid up, and can automate the process of giving a victim their files back once this payment has been received.

This point also suggests a slightly curious aspect of the role of crypto in ransomware attacks: Cryptocurrency is, perhaps, the worst place to store ransom money. The open, transparent, nature of Bitcoin blockchain transactions means that the global community is closely watching the ransom money. That makes it extremely difficult to convert these funds into another currency, and means that they can be tracked by law enforcement.

As the director of research at Coin Center, Peter Van Valkenburgh, stated:

In the U.S., every major bitcoin exchange is regulated by FINCEN. Right now the $50,000 extorted from victims is just sitting on the bitcoin network. ... That [exchange into local currency] is where youre vulnerable to being identified.

The fact that stolen funds can be tracked in this way doesnt necessarily mean that the hackers who stole them can be brought to justice, of course. The anonymity of cryptocurrency means that it is often impossible for law enforcement agencies to uncover the true identity of ransomware hackers, though of course there are exceptions.

Chief among these, according to Coin Center, is that the blockchain allows one to trace all transactions involving a given bitcoin address, all the way back to the first transaction. That gives law enforcement the records it needs to follow the money in a way that would never be possible with cash.

Because of that, and also in response to a number of recent high-profile ransomware attacks, some have called for cryptocurrency to be regulated more closely. Regulation will need to be implemented carefully, however, because one of the major attractions of cryptocurrency for ordinary citizens and hackers alike is the fact that it is anonymous.

This means that attempts to regulate the space may make catching criminals even more difficult. As pointed out by Will Ellis, head of research at community advocacy group Privacy Australia, cryptocurrency bans led to a rise in VPN use, as investors seek to circumvent Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering requirements in their home countries.

In addition, most governments simply dont have the understanding or the resources to regulate the crypto space effectively. Some are so far behind that they arent even certain how to define what cryptocurrencies are. In this context, it is difficult to see how the close link between ransomware and cryptocurrency can ever be broken.

Related: From the UK to Malaysia: How Countries Have Been Classifying Crypto Across the World

The lack of governmental oversight of cryptocurrency, combined with the rapid rise in ransomware attacks, means that individuals need to protect themselves.

Some companies and individuals have taken unusual approaches. Companies have stockpiled Bitcoin not as an investment, but rather in case they need to pay a ransom as part of a future attack. Some enterprising individuals have even taken matters into their own hands, such as the German programmer who hacked back following a cyberattack using his own systems.

For most of us, though, protecting against ransomware attacks means doing the basics correctly. You should ensure that all of your systems are up to date, subscribe to a secure cloud storage provider and backup frequently. Companies of all sizes should partner with a managed security services provider to monitor enterprise networks, perform risk assessments and make recommendations specific to their data environment.

Ultimately, the relationship between cryptocurrency and ransomware is unlikely to be broken anytime soon. And while cryptocurrencies are certainly involved in the majority of ransomware attacks, we should not make the mistake of blaming crime on the currency it is conducted in.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Sam Bocetta is a freelance journalist specializing in U.S. diplomacy and national security, with an emphasis on technology trends in cyber warfare, cyber defense and cryptography. Previously, Sam was a defense contractor for the United States Department of Defense, working in partnership with architects and developers to mitigate controls for vulnerabilities identified across applications.

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The Role of Cryptocurrencies in the Rise of Ransomware - Cointelegraph

The city of Ashburn, Virginia has more cryptocurrency users per capita than anywhere else in the United States, but users in San Francisco are the wealthiest according to new research published last week by tax software startup CoinTracker.

The startup said it examined tens of thousands of anonymized user accounts to present a snapshot of US crypto users by location, wealth and their favorite cryptocurrencies.

The data suggest that more than 50% of cryptocurrency users hold Bitcoin, and nearly 30% have Ether, the second-most popular cryptocurrency by market cap.

The mid-Atlantic tech hub Ashburn, VA had the most users per capita, followed by Redmond, Washington, the headquarters of Microsoft.

US cities with most crypto owners per capita. Source: CoinTracker

But larger cities dominated when it came to total number of crypto holders, with San Francisco coming first, followed by New York and Los Angeles.

US cities with most crypto owners. (Image: CoinTracker)

San Francisco is also home to the wealthiest cryptocurrency holders. The average user has over $55,000 in their crypto portfolio. In fact, the Bay Area dominates the list of places with the wealthiest users, with San Francisco, Palo Alto, Santa Clara and San Mateo capturing each of the top four spots.

US cities with the richest crypto owners. (Image: CoinTracker)

San Francisco users also standout as having made over half of their crypto wealth from Ethereum, according to the CoinTracker data. But San Diego leads the country in concentration of Ether wealth, with 66% of users owning the cryptocurrency.

CoinTracker said its data was obtained from people who used the companys services for calculating crypto taxes between 2013 and 2020. The startup was launched in 2017 and is backed by investors including former Coinbase CTO Balaji S. Srinivasan, tennis ace Serena Williams. YCombinator, and Initialized Capital.

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Ranked: US cities with the most crypto owners - Decrypt

A hardware wallet may just be the safest way to store cryptocurrency for average users. Nowadays, many different devices are trying to tackle the challenges of secure crypto asset storage. In this article, Cointelegraph will review some of the most well-known hardware wallets and compare their features.

The cryptocurrency wallets that will be covered in this article are Ledgers Nano X and Nano S, SatoshiLabss Trezor One and Trezor Model T, ShapeShifts KeepKey, and Coinkites Coldcard and Opendime. It is also important to point out that all the wallets tested in this article, other than the Ledger Nano S (which was already owned), have been provided by the producers, free of charge.

Ledgers Nano S and Nano X are similar devices when it comes to their functionality. Both interact with the same software, run the same applications and support the same cryptocurrencies, according to the firms official website.

The Nano X is different from all the other devices in this article because it is the only one that is rechargeable and works wirelessly via Bluetooth. However, during the tests, the devices wireless connectivity was only functional with the Ledger Live mobile application.

Ledger Live allows users to update the device and to manage a significant portion of the crypto assets supported by the device. The rest of the assets are accessible through third-party software that is compatible with the hardware wallet.

Another advantage that the Nano X has over the Nano S is the larger and higher resolution screen. While no one will be watching movies on either device, the fact that an entire wallet address fits on the screen helps when checking where the assets are being sent.

The Nano S can hold fewer under 10 in the tests applications than the Nano X, which is advertised to hold up to 100. Not having the app of a crypto asset installed precludes the ability to manage it, but uninstalling and reinstalling the application does not imply a loss of cryptocurrency. Consequently, the limitation in the number of installed apps of the Nano S results only in a minor inconvenience.

Both wallets can be used on mobile devices, but the Nano S only works with a USB on-the-go cable. Third-party mobile apps also support both the Nano X and S. The Nano X is available on the official Ledger website for around $120, while the Nano S is just short of $60.

The SatoshiLabss Trezor One and Trezor Model T hardware wallets, on the other hand, share fewer similarities than the Ledger devices. The Model T has a larger color touch screen than the One, a micro SD card slot and a reversible USB C connector. Yet, both support about 1,000 crypto assets.

The micro SD card slot in the Model T allows for signing transactions in an offline environment and saving them onto the memory card. The transactions could then be transmitted to the network from a second device that is connected to the internet. However, this functionality has not been added to the device yet.

In order to operate Trezor, the hardware wallet needs to be connected to a computer or a mobile device that runs dedicated software. This software can be Trezor's purpose-built Google Chrome browser extension or a third-party, web-based wallet. Moreover, the device has all the expected functionalities, as well as an intuitive user interface. Like Ledgers devices, the Trezor hardware wallets are also supported by a long list of third-party software wallets.

SatoshiLabs also provides a mobile wallet that allows device initialization, recovery, label change, pin change, passphrase management, firmware upgrade and a full device wipe. Mobile wallets, such as Mycelium or Walleth, allow users to manage their crypto assets from a mobile device, although only via a cable.

Furthermore, the Trezor web-based wallet can also be accessed through the Android version of Google Chrome when the wallet is connected to the mobile device. According to the companys website, the Trezor One is available for $55, while the Trezor T is just a little short of $170. The Corazon Titanium Trezor Model T sold by Gray in a partnership with Trezor costs about four times more than the standard version, which was also tested.

Although its lesser-known but is still a major player on the market, the KeepKey surprises with its large black and white screen and premium feel. The materials used for the front of the device make it hard to clean and can be easily scratched.

The device is significantly larger than the other ones in this list, and the number of digital assets supported is severely limited when compared with Trezor and Ledger hardware wallets. The KeepKey supports eight cryptocurrencies but also allows users to manage all their Ethereum-based tokens compliant with the ERC-20 standard.

During the testing phase of the review, some bugs were encountered in the dedicated software. The application stopped during an attempt to add an account, and it ran into multiple issues when unlocking the wallet.

Fortunately, no such bugs interfered when testing the beta version of the cryptocurrency management and trading interface developed by ShapeShift. It is worth pointing out that the ShapeShift service is not a KeepKey exclusive but is also supported in Ledger and Trezor devices.

ColdCard is an open-source hardware wallet that closely resembles a calculator and targets more tech-savvy users. The Opendime, on the other hand, is closer to a real-life version of the cyberpunk credit chips or a piggy bank than a traditional hardware wallet.

The Coldcard wallet only supports Bitcoin (BTC) and is the only wallet in this review that supports the Partially Signed Bitcoin Transactions format. This feature allows users to sign transactions, save them onto the SD card, and broadcast them at a later time and co-sign them in the case of a multi-signature wallet.

The Opendime wallet is a single-use device that needs to be physically altered in order to spend the cryptocurrency. When it is first activated by inserting the device into the computers USB port, the user has to input random data onto its drive. The wallet then uses this data to generate a privatepublic key pair.

Once the device is initiated, users can see their public keys and send cryptocurrencies to it. What users cannot do is access the private key, which means they cannot move the coins.

In order to access the private key, the device's owner has to puncture the device in an indicated spot, permanently altering its electronic circuit. After piercing the Opendime device, users gain access to the private key that can be used to move the cryptocurrency to a software wallet.

This device can be viewed as a way to transform a digital currency into a physical currency. When accepting an Opendime as a means of payment, its balance can be verified while users can feel confident that no one will spend the balance without accessing the device.

This unique device is the perfect choice for some atypical situations. However, the fact that physical access to the Opendime device automatically translates into access to the cryptocurrency precludes its use in most cases.

Coinkite only sells the Bitcoin version of the Opendime device, but the Litecoin Foundation has one for Litecoin (LTC) as well. Coinkites official shop sells the Coldcard for a little under $120 and the Opendime in packs of three for just short of $45.

Views and beliefs expressed in the article are of the author, Cointelegraph does not endorse any of the products or projects mentioned.

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Bitcoin in the Palm of Your Hand Crypto Hardware Wallets Review - Cointelegraph

March24, 20205 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

If youre a cannabis entrepreneur, you already know that banking and payment processing are major issues in the cannabis industry.

There are limited payment options if you sell CBD.It is magnitudes more difficult if you are selling THC-centered products.

RELATED:How To Guerilla Market Your Cannabis Brand

Last year, banking issues in the cannabis industry reached the national spotlight when NPR published the aptly-titled article Bags Of Cash, Armed Guards And Wary Banks: The Edgy Life Of A Cannabis Company CFO.

Once (or if) you can find a bank to work with, your bank account runs the risk of being shut down at a moments notice.

Then, you face the challenge of payment processing. Its more difficult for startups with no payment processing history to obtain one. And if a payment processor decides to ban you, your business will be left temporarily unable to accept credit cards.

On top of that, processing fees in the cannabis industry are significantly higher when compared to traditional commerce. We are talking between 4 percent and 6 percent, triple the average of other industries.

A solution is on the horizon.

An emerging, immature, and often misunderstood Bitcoin cryptocurrencytechnology was unleashed on the world in 2009.11 years later, it hascome a longway. Bitcoin can be bought and sold in every country. Mainstream financial channels like CNBC and Bloomberg have teams dedicated to Bitcointechnology.

The promise is appealing. You can be your own bank. No more frozen funds. Transactions cant be censored and the fees cost next to nothing. Plus, payment processing cannot be shut off, unlike traditional banking.

RELATED:Coronavirus Spikes Demand For Cannabis Delivery As People Stockpile Products

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum intend to solve the problems faced by high-risk banking industries. Its worth noting that on a dark web marketplace known as the Silk Road,thenumber oneproduct sold (by far) was marijuana. The Silk Road is now defunct, but when it was still functioning back in 2011, it showed that Bitcoin has a role to play as a digital currency.

Is cryptocurrency a viable payment solution for your cannabis business?

Like many new technologies, cryptocurrency is not easy to understand. The complexity is where most people lose interest.

Heres something to think about:Most of us do not know how the internet works.Transferring data via "packets," the interaction of protocols like TCP, SMTP, and HTTPS, its all quite detailed under the hood. But this does not prevent you from shopping online, sending an email, or reading this article.

Our company hadprior experience with cryptocurrency, so it made the decision easier than it would be for other cannabis entrepreneurs.

Now that you want to enable the payment option, you have to get set up.

To acceptonline payments, we used the free tool Coinbase Commerce, which integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce and most major platforms. It took us about 30 minutes from signing up to having it live.

We were set up and ready to go, except for one thing: customers.

If you spend even 15 minutes interacting with the cryptocurrency community on Twitter, Reddit, or anywhere else, youll quickly see they are a passionate, enthusiastic (albeit tribal) group.

By sharing a few links on Reddit channels, we received cryptocurrency orders on the first day.

The most interesting and effective part was our charity initiative. By using cryptocurrency to cross borders and feed people in Venezuela and South Sudan, two countries with extremely limited banking options, it showed a fundamental advantage cryptocurrency holds over traditional banking.

RELATED:Cryptocurrency and the Allure of a Cashless Cannabis Industry

It sparked some sales and press for our startup. A few CBD stores reached out to us asking how they could accept cryptocurrency.Even our coffee supplier is open to receiving Bitcoin.There is a lot of underlying interest in the cannabis industry, but they are primarily spectators who arent sure how to participate.

After a few months of time has passed using cryptocurrency, it has been a positive experience. We think all cannabis companies should consider accepting Bitcoin at their business. Keep in mind, cryptocurrency orders are only a small fraction of our total orders. Thatshould be expected at any cannabis company. Your dollars will not turn into Bitcoin overnight.

Thats not to say there arent some drawbacks to consider. First off, if you use Coinbase Commerce, youll have to manually convert your cryptocurrency back into U.S. Dollars. There are services like GoCoin that do this for you for a 1 percentfee (still a lot cheaper than credit card processing).

Second, if you have storefront locations, the cashiers will have to know how to accept payments. AnyPay offers a free POS app, but like any software, it still takes some time to learn.

In the coming years, cryptocurrency has the potential for exponential growth, and there are perks to being an early adopter.Id encourage you to be skeptical of experts who dismiss cryptocurrency in its early days.Remember, Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, once predicted: "By 2005 or so, it will become clear that the Internet's impact on the economy has been no greater than the fax machine's.

Cryptocurrency will not be a magic bullet for your business. But in an industry that has an uncertain banking future, why not offer your customers an additional payment method and get some free press in the process?

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We Implemented Cryptocurrency In Our Cannabis Business. Here's What We Found. - Green Entrepreneur