Hemp Entrepreneurs View Bitcoin As A Payment Tool, Launch Educational Resource For Farmers
A pair of hemp entrepreneurs recently launched a bitcoin education resource called 1620 Solutions to educate farmers about bitcoin’s advantages as a payment tool, according to Motherboard .
Colorado entrepreneur Veronica Caprio got into the hemp business to avoid legal problems associated with marijuana. Hemp is not as strictly regulated as marijuana in the state. Nonetheless, PayPal eventually informed Caprio they were shutting her account and freezing her funds for six months.
Banks And Card Companies No Help
Caprio had previously learned that banks and credit card companies want nothing to do with cannabis.
Once PayPal froze her account, Caprio noticed her Amazon and Etsy accounts became frozen.
Caprio was unsuccessful in trying to get PayPal to unfreeze her account. With no way to accept online payments, she was unable to earn a living for six months.
She began exploring other payment options and learned about bitcoin. She integrated a bitcoin payment solution for her business using the Mycelium wallet.
Caprio found that Mycelium offers a high level of anonymity and easy transactions. She found it easy to integrate Mycelium into her business web architecture. She also found Mycelium easy for her customers to use since the wallet is more intuitive than other bitcoin wallets.
Also read: Would bitcoin help the cannabis industry?
Hemp Farmers Reluctant
Nonetheless, Caprio found hemp farmer customers hesitant to use cryptocurrency. She said older generation customers don’t understand bitcoin, thinking it is illegal or does not really work.
To address the education challenge, Caprio launched a knowledge resource called 1620 Solutions. Partnering with her in this endeavor was Edgar Hamm, a biodynamic hemp farmer and cannabis activist.
The goal of 1620 is to educate hemp farmers on using bitcoin in their existing business model.
Hamm sees bitcoin as the future for agriculture.
Caprio and Hamm said the response from hemp farmers has been positive. They did not wish to reveal how many hemp farmers are using bitcoin.
Image from Shutterstock.
