Seldom has cannabis been a socially valid mode of recreation and healing than today. Until June last year, the medical use of cannabis had legal validity across 36 US states, including Washington DC. Eighteen states and the DC region have taken a bold step further and decriminalized the recreational use of cannabis.
The overall mood amongst lawmakers and the general public is to decriminalize the use of the plant. However, things are still not quite that simple. Cannabis use is still illegal at the federal level. Two bills are on their way in the House of Representatives regarding the issue, but the bottom line is that there’s still plenty of ifs. It makes it difficult for any entity to carry out financial transactions where cannabis is involved — even if its use is legal in that particular jurisdiction.
In those jurisdictions where the law is still lagging, cannabis businesses can’t use banks to transact — This is where cryptocurrency comes into the picture. This article highlights three popular cryptos that serve as payment provisions for cannabis users and sellers. They are as follows:
Cannabis Cryptocurrency – PotCoin (POT)
PotCoin came into being in January 2014 and is one of the earliest and most popular cryptocurrencies meant for trading or paying for cannabis. The lack of banking facilities for cannabis businesses was the specific reason behind its creation. In addition, Colorado was an early legalizer of cannabis consumption, and PotCoin intended to address the resultant payment and transaction issues. Heck, they even installed a PotCoin ATM in a particular Colorado cannabis dispensary.
One month into their launch in February 2014, the market cap stood at $81,547. In August last year, the exact figure amounted to $3.7 million. The year-to-date figure of the coin stands at an impressive 70%.
The market supply of PotCoin is limited to 420 million, and as of now, the circulating pool stands at 226 million. However, some noteworthy points about PotCoin are its speed — 40 seconds for a transaction which makes it stand out in the particularly slow BitCoin transactions. Furthermore, you can trade in PotCoin in three markets, and it also evolved to provide proof of stake features. The latter lets the owner mine and validate transactions in proportion to their owned number of coins.
CannabisCoin (CANN)
Like the preceding PotCoin crypto, CannabisCoin was also launched in 2014, closely following the heels of PotCoin. Unlike PotCoin, this cryptocurrency takes an open-source peer-to-peer proof of work approach. The enterprise was not successful despite significant popularity in the initial period.
It has a unique feature through, CannabisCoin stands for direct cannabis ownership. A lineup of medical and other cannabis products called CANNdy is offered to coin owners. A single coin of the crypto stands for 1 gm of cannabis medication.
Cryptocurrencies developed for the cannabis market work like other coins, and you can use virtual wallets for ownership and storage. However, compared to PotCoin, CannabisCoin have a significantly lower maximum supply- 91.8 million. CannabisCoin’s circulating supply stands at 77 million. The market capital of the crypto stood at $1.61 last August, as per the figures of CoinMarketCap.
DopeCoin (DOPE)
The last cannabis cryptocurrency to consider weeding into is DopeCoin. Its founder Adam Howell, well-known in certain circles as Dopey, created the coin in the same month and year as PotCoin, i.e., January 2014. According to the firm, its “mission is to provide marijuana enthusiasts with a modern and secure way of doing business for the 21st century.” The crypto allows for pseudo-anonymity and can process transactions in under a minute. The best thing about the coin is that there are no transaction costs or fees. The coin supply is significantly lower than PotCoin but marginally higher than CannabisCoin, standing at 117 million circulating supply. The $323,951 market cap coin adopts the proof of stake method and offers 5% annual interest to investors.