This story is part of our Quick Hits series. This series will bring you breaking news and short updates from throughout the state.
Wyoming’s long-awaited stable token went live for public purchase Wednesday.
The Frontier Stable Token (FRNT) is available on Kraken, a Wyoming-based cryptocurrency exchange. Users can purchase it on the Solana blockchain and transfer it to other blockchains using the Stargate platform. FRNT is currently supported on the Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, Ethereum, Optimism, Polygon and Solana blockchains.
Stable tokens are a type of cryptocurrency backed by the U.S. dollar, with the aim to make them less volatile than other cryptocurrencies.
Wyoming is the first and only state to issue one.
The Frontier Stable Token has been about a decade in the making. The state has allocated $6 million toward its creation.
During the Appropriation Committee’s budget hearing on the Stable Token Commission, lawmakers questioned the commission's request for an extra $2 million. A couple of representatives wanted some kind of reaffirmation on the potential of the token’s returns to the state, suggesting the funding request was a lot for a commission that has yet to produce revenue.
Backers are optimistic the token will create another source of interest income to help diversify the state’s revenue streams. They say it can be a tool to increase government efficiency and lessen processing costs.
“The county is like any other business — we take credit cards, but we can't raise registration fees and property taxes to absorb the processing costs, so we send those costs directly to the customers,” Converse County Treasurer Joel Schell was quoted in a press release from the governor’s office. “Last year my office took in about $3.4 million in credit card transactions, which cost our constituents about $70,000 in fees that our processors collected. We're anxious to get out of that climate and to move into something else. Electronic payments, especially the stable token, would let us get more efficient.”
FRNT’s public release has been pushed back a few times over the past year.
The Wyoming Stable Token Commission, which has overseen FNRT’s development, will hold its next meeting on Jan. 15 at 9 a.m. Members of the public can attend in person at the Capitol Extension or online via Zoom.
