Wyoming residents who purchase the first state-issued cryptocurrency can now use those digital assets to buy a cup of coffee. All it takes is a card made by Rain, a Visa partner, that converts Wyoming’s Frontier Stable Token into U.S. dollars.
But despite the easier use, organizers say adoption has been slow since public release in January.
“Most folks in Wyoming still don’t understand,” said Jackson lawyer Flavia Naves. “It was the same thing with PayPal and it’s been a similar learning experience with this industry… it’s just a different way to move value.”
The extra step will be worth it for people who want greater flexibility, or to contribute to the state’s schools that will eventually receive interest from the coin, she said.
Naves left her role as general counsel to the New York City-based crypto company Circle to help usher in Wyoming’s digital future. She is one one of six members of the Stable Token Commission led by Governor Mark Gordon, who served for six years as the state’s treasurer.
She said although the governor and her disagree politically, they are each lending credibility to the new technology. New federal regulations are helping too.
Last week, two federal agencies, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, issued sweeping new guidance on digital assets like Wyoming’s stable coin.
The regulations should help the crypto industry operate legally, which may provide additional assurance to consumers.
To many Cowboy State residents, digital assets still feel like the Wild West. But Naves doesn’t think that should be a barrier: “This should not be just for people that understand the technology. It should be for everyone,” she said.
The commission launched Wyoming’s Frontier token in January and is directly linked to the U.S. dollar. That makes it fundamentally different from bitcoin, which derives its value from scarcity.
Adoption has been slow, and it’s not clear when the project will break even, Naves said.
Eventually, profits will be siphoned off for the state’s school foundation fund. The schools haven’t received anything yet. Organizers don’t expect that to change this year.
Joel Revill, CEO and co-founder of the Jackson-based investment firm Two Ocean Trust, is also lending experience in cryptocurrency to the state commission. Anthony Apollo serves as its first executive director.
State Rep. Mike Yin (D-Jackson) has also been involved. The software engineer is part of the Select Committee on Blockchain, Financial Technology and Digital Innovation Technology. On the opposite side of the tech spectrum, he proposed legislation this session to deal with pennies as the U.S. ceases production of the hard currency.
“Players who use other stable tokens want proof that what we build will also be stable, that they can trust us to maintain it in the long term,” Yin told KHOL. “I think uptake will get there, it just takes some time.”
