Colorado is going to host the Crypto Cannabis Conference for representatives of both bitcoin industry and cannabis industry. The CEO of Californian medical marijuana dispensary believes bitcoin and marijuana need each other.

Bitcoin has had lots of bad publicity because of Silk Road and other underground marketplaces. The anonymous and decentralized character of the cryptocurrency made it an ideal vehicle for buying drugs in the dark web. However, shopping for marijuana in bitcoins can be perfectly legal – because in a number of jurisdictions, medical and sometimes even recreational use of marijuana is allowed. These jurisdictions include the Netherlands, many South American countries, three states and a number of cities of the U.S.

One of such places is Colorado. It is completely legal to grow marijuana, to consume it, to sell, buy and to give as a gift to others. But the great problem of marijuana business is the reluctance of banks to collaborate, even when everything is perfectly legal. The absence of banking partners is the most important problem of cannabis industry, says Marshall Hayner, CEO of Californian medical marijuana dispensary (in California, only medical use of marijuana is permitted):

“The industry is about $2.5 billion dollars, and there is not a single banking partner in sight.”

Bitcoin usage may help when the banks would not. Its anonymous character will benefit the buyer while the seller will be relieved from the necessity to use cash. Hayner also believes that the blockchain can be used to certify the authenticity and quality of marijuana (CoinFox recently wrote about blockchain certification of diamonds). However, the cannabis industry does not rush to adopt bitcoin. Feeling themselves at the edge of illegality, cannabis dealers are afraid to use the currency that so many people associate with drugs and the dark net.

The situation could be changed if people from bitcoin community and legal cannabis industry would meet each other, believe the organizers of Crypto Cannabis Conference, scheduled for 24 and 25 October 2015 in Denver, Colorado. Among its participants there are Caleb Chen, currently teaching digital currency in the University of Nicosia, Roger Ver, known as “Bitcoin Jesus” and other bitcoin experts as well as lawyers, financiers and representatives of cannabis industry. They are planning to establish contacts between two communities and see the possible ways of collaboration.

Alexey Tereshchenko