When Governor Jared Polis took to the stage on February 18 at ETHDenver, the longest-standing cryptocurrency conference in the world, he was preaching to the choir.
“This is, without a doubt, the most fun thing that I get to do this month,” Polis said, then proceeded to jab Republicans and Democrats alike. Republicans tell people not to trust the government and to trust big corporations, he suggested, while Democrats tell people not to trust big corporations and to put all of their faith in government.
Key Points from the event according to Fool.com
- Colorado Governor Jared Polis says his state will soon allow its residents to pay state taxes using Bitcoin and Ethereum.
- State lawmakers are working on legislation to allow Colorado to issue its own digital tokens to raise funds for special projects and building initiatives rather than issuing bonds or raising taxes.
- He also said Denver has already successfully used blockchain-based voting to validate ballots from city residents who were in the military or overseas during a city election cycle two years ago.
A Broader Innovation Space
“Most people don’t trust either big corporations or the government,” Polis added. “And that is what blockchain allows us to solve for. We trust ourselves. “Polis spent the second half of his time in public praising his administration’s achievements in the crypto sphere. “Our state was the first to recruit a chief blockchain designer,” Polis remarked of Thaddeus Batt’s hiring in 2019. “We believe [blockchain] is an important part of Colorado’s broader innovation environment.”
Polis also inked the Digital Token Act into law in Colorado that year, which some crypto enthusiasts claim as a big part of the state’s crypto boom.
Polis, a libertarian-leaning Democrat, avoided discussing the downsides of cryptocurrency, including the volatility of cryptocurrencies and the negative environmental effects of cryptocurrency mining.
Polis also stated that he wants Colorado to be the “Delaware of cooperatives.” Delaware does have a reputation for being a sanctuary for American firms that want to register in the state but don’t want to set up shop there.
A Crypto Pioneer
Companies working in the cryptocurrency & blockchain space are frequently structured with employee & community ownership in mind, which is one cause why Colorado, which is seeking to establish itself as a crypto pioneer, would aspire to become the Mecca of cooperatives, according to the governor.
After Polis finished speaking, everybody else caught up on that idea. Throughout a consecutive session, Kent Barton, an ETHDenver developer, projected that “Colorado will become the Silicon Valley of Web3,” referring to a fresh view of the World Wide Web that will be decentralized via blockchain technology.
“I honestly believe this event will be held in Mile High Stadium within 3 to 5 years. I’m not joking, and I’m not joking around “Barton had made a vow. “We’ll be doing it in sports venues in a non-hypey, non-douchey way in five years,” reports Westword.com
