{"id":7277,"date":"2022-02-08T08:03:58","date_gmt":"2022-02-08T08:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/egrowonline.com\/?p=7277"},"modified":"2022-02-08T08:03:58","modified_gmt":"2022-02-08T08:03:58","slug":"cryptocurrency-trading-to-become-illegal-in-hawaii-if-legislature-doesnt-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/?p=7277","title":{"rendered":"Cryptocurrency trading to become illegal in Hawaii if legislature doesn\u2019t act"},"content":{"rendered":"


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HONOLULU (KHON2) \u2014 Cryptocurrency could be coming to an end in the islands.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s if the legislature doesn\u2019t pass new legislation. Digital currency has become a nearly $1 billion industry in the state, but trading things like Bitcoin could become illegal if the pilot program that allows it to operate outside of strict laws is not replaced with a new law.<\/p>\n

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Get news on the go with KHON 2GO<\/strong><\/a>, KHON\u2019s morning podcast, every morning at 8<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Cryptocurrency is based on blockchain technology, which is akin to a ledger with digital information that is encrypted to be secure. Instead of being used for goods and services, for now, cryptocurrency is mostly used as an asset for investing. Some analogies for digital currency are things that appreciate value like precious metals and baseball cards.<\/p>\n

Hawaii\u2019s Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs made a ruling in 2016 that cryptocurrencies were regulated as money transmitters, essentially blocking them from trading.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now we\u2019re treating cryptocurrency exchanges companies that turn US dollars to Bitcoin or other types of digital currencies as money transmitters that are like Western Union. Because of that classification, most of these exchanges do not want to operate or service customers in Hawaii,\u201d tech expert Ryan Ozawa said.<\/p>\n

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