Lawmakers want state agencies compelled to accept crypto payments

Crypto-payments will be at no cost to state agencies

New Hampshire has a vibrant crypto community

Two New Hampshire legislators have filed a Bill that vouches for the acceptance of cryptocurrency payments. The Bill requires state-level agencies and the state’s tax office to accept cryptocurrencies for payment of fees and taxes.

Massive Impetus for Crypto Adoption

The two lawmakers Dennis Acton and Michael Yakubovich filed the House Bill No. 470 on January 3, 2019, seeking to compel state agencies in New Hampshire to accept crypto payments for their fees and taxes via third-party entities. Should the bill see the light of day, the state treasures will have until November 1, 2019, to create a master plan that will enable the affected agencies to integrate the said payments.

Introducing the House Bill 470-Fn is good news for the state’s burgeoning crypto community since the existing regulations only recognize the U.S dollar as the legitimate form of payment for fees and taxes and any other currencies used for the said payments are usually returned to the sender.

Crypto Payments at No Cost to State Agencies

The bill proposes to allow all state-level agencies to accept yet to be determined cryptocurrencies through appropriate third-party payment processors who will process digital currencies at the cost of the taxpayer.

A portion of the bill text clarifies that should they should approve the legislation to amend this statute, matters to do with the value and risks associated with crypto volatility and fluctuations vis. a vis. the U.S. Dollar will be mitigated since payments will be converted to the prevailing dollar rate. The bill also states:

“Tax payments received by the state would need to be converted to U.S. dollars or, mitigate such risk by continually monitoring cryptocurrency levels held by the state to ensure there is as much demand for state payments to vendors and payees as the state have in its ‘inventory’.”

Once the plan is implemented, it will require the state agencies to accept cryptocurrency payments on July 1, 2020.

New Hampshire’s Vibrant Crypto Community

This development doesn’t come as a surprise considering that New Hampshire has been termed as the home to an impressive crypto community. There is a huge number of businesses accepting cryptocurrencies and embracing the decentralized benefits associated with cryptocurrencies by accepting payments in Bitcoin, Dash, and Bitcoin Cash among others.

A New Hampshire car dealership saw its first car sold entirely in Dash cryptocurrency in October 2018, giving a sign there was a change to the way business managers think of crypto as payment for day-to-day items. Unfortunately, other states like Pennsylvania still seem to be in denial on matters crypto, stating that cryptocurrency isn’t money.