Two committees of the Hawaii State Legislature — Commerce and Consumer Protection (CPN) and Ways and Means (WAM) — unanimously approved the launch of a specialized task force to explore the use and regulation of the crypto ecosystem. In a letter addressed to the President of the Hawaii State Senate, Ron Kouchi, legislative members Donovan Dela Cruz and Roz Baker wrote in support of creating a “Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Task Force” that was first proposed in bill SB2695. SB2695, titled “A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CRYPTOCURRENCY,” sought to establish a task force within the Department of Budget and …

A new report from MiQ Digital indicates that demand for cryptocurrency has increased the most in the U.S. states of Hawaii and California in 2021. According to data gathered from Google Trends comparing the average interest from 2020 to 2021, MiQ Digital reported that Hawaii had seen a more than 687% increase in demand for cryptocurrencies over that in 2020, even more than runner-up state California at 655%. However, users are most likely to find businesses in California that are willing to accept crypto payments, with 440 currently doing so compared to 180 in Florida — the home of the …

Lawyers negotiating on behalf of Arthur Hayes, one of four BitMEX executives and co-owners accused of violating the Bank Secrecy Act by United States authorities, have finalized the terms of his proposed voluntary surrender to a Hawaii court on April 6. As a letter submitted to the Southern District Court of New York outlines, the counsel's negotiations with the government on behalf of Hayes began shortly after his indictment was unsealed in October 2020. The proposed bail conditions, which are subject to the court's approval, stipulate that Hayes, who has lived in Singapore since January 2020, would potentially be released …

A new partisan bill introduced by Democrats in Hawaii's House of Representatives on Monday is advocating a targeted strategy for studying and supporting the use of blockchain technology by individuals, firms and state agencies. Hawaii House Bill 622 calls for the passage of an act that would require the state's economic development agency, the Hawaii Technology Development Corporation, to create a blockchain working group that would both recommend a definition for blockchain and offer recommendations for the adoption of the technology. The introduction to HB622 states: “The legislature recognizes that the distributed ledger format that blockchain technology functions as can …

The governor’s office of Hawaii revealed its new ‘Digital Currency Innovation Lab’ on March 17 — a blockchain and cryptocurrency incubator developed through collaboration between the state’s Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Division of Financial Institution (DFI), and the Hawaii Technology Development Corporation (HTDC). The initiative will run for two years, and will allow “digital currency issuers to do business in Hawaii without obtaining a state money transmitter license during the effective period of the pilot program.” Through the program, Hawaii aims to “achieve a more in-depth perspective of digital currency” and inform future cryptocurrency regulation in the state. …

The Hawaii State Senate has passed the first reading of a bill authorizing banks to hold digital assets in their custody. The bill was introduced on Jan. 17 by five state senators, including the only Republican member of the Senate, Kurt Fevella. It passed the first reading on Jan. 21 and was then referred to the committees on Judiciary and Commerce, and Consumer Protection and Health on Jan. 23. The bill specifies the set of provisions which a bank must adhere to in order to provide custodial services for digital assets. Custodial services cover “the safekeeping and management of customer …

Hawaii’s Democratic Representative Tulsi Gabbard has joined the list of U.S. politicians who have invested in cryptocurrency, having disclosed purchases of Litecoin (LTC) and Ethereum (ETH), Bloomberg reports Thursday, August 23. Citing an income filing from August 14, the publication notes Gabbard purchased between $1,001 and $15,000 worth of the two assets at some point in December 2017. At the time, both were highly volatile, rising steeply towards the end of the month after Bitcoin (BTC) hit all-time highs around $20,000. Depending on the exact date of the purchases, Gabbard could have secured ETH and LTC for as little as …

Bitcoin ATMs are spreading around the world at an incredible speed. Manufacturers like Robocoin and Lamassu have already sold hundreds of their machines to international companies fond of cryptocurrencies. Brand new locations to place BTMs are being discovered on a daily basis, and believe it or not, local businesses are often more willing than notable corporations to go crypto. CoinOutlet Cracks the BTM Market with Two-Way, Affordable Models Recently launched this past August, CoinOutlet is hoping to crack the BTM market with its affordable machines. Eric Grill, CEO for CoinOutlet talked in an interview about his company and about his …