A citizen of Louisiana recently paid a fine to the state’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. While that’s not necessarily news, the fact that the fine was paid using Bitcoin’s Lightning Network is.
Louisiana has become the first state to accept crypto payments for all of its state services. The state has been positioning itself as crypto-friendly, including the passage of a “Bitcoin Rights” bill earlier this summer. This bill affirmed citizens’ rights to use bitcoin as a means of payment, banned the creation of central bank digital currencies, and provided legal protections for home digital asset miners.
“By introducing cryptocurrency as a payment option, we’re not just innovating,” said Louisiana State Treasurer John Fleming in a statement. “We’re providing our citizens with flexibility and freedom in interacting with state services. This unique innovation protects our state from any volatility associated with cryptocurrency.”
The state’s treasury is protected from crypto volatility because payments are converted into dollars before being deposited into government accounts. Even if the citizen pays in cryptocurrency, the state doesn’t directly handle the crypto. The process is facilitated by Bead Pay, which allows third parties to integrate cryptocurrency payments into e-commerce payment platforms without having to adapt to new collection methods.
Testing the Crypto Waters
Other states have attempted to incorporate crypto into their payment processes, and the Louisiana example may spur further innovation.
“I think other states will definitely follow Louisiana,” said Joel Hugentobler, Cryptocurrency Analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research. “Payments leveraging an open-source public ledger are more transparent and less susceptible to fraud. Fleming is exactly right that government systems must evolve and embrace new technologies. Those that don’t will be left behind.”
In 2018, Ohio began accepting crypto for tax payments through its platform OhioCrypto.com. But the attorney general declared that the state treasurer lacked the authority to operate the program and had not followed required bidding processes for payment processors, leading to the program’s shutdown.
In 2022, Colorado and Utah announced they would accept cryptocurrency for tax payments. State legislatures in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Illinois, New York, Oklahoma, and Wyoming have also introduced similar proposals, though none have passed in those states yet.