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An advertisement for bitcoin, a popular cryptocurrency, is displayed on a building in Hong Kong on Nov. 18, 2021. Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Louisiana state government is now able to accept payments in the form of cryptocurrency, state Treasurer John Fleming announced this week .
People will be able to make payments from secure crypto wallets using the cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Bitcoin Lightning and USD Coin. Bead Pay, the application the state is using to for crypto transactions, converts cryptocurrencies — digital money — into U.S.
dollars the state can handle. “This service protects the state from previous worries about accepting cryptocurrency and promotes the adoption of new technologies in the state’s infrastructure,” the announcement said. Some of those concerns included fraudulent transactions, cryptocurrency price volatility, and how the state would directly handle cryptocurrencies, which it will not have to do with the Bead Pay arrangement.
The first crypto payment was made to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries on Tuesday, according to Fleming’s announcement. “This is another step toward our goal of creating a modern and professional organization that better serves the sportsmen of the state,” LDWF Secretary Madison Sheahan said. Currently, LDWF is the only state department that accepts crypto payments, but it is available “for any department that wishes to utilize this option,” Fleming spokesperson Jeff Crouere said.
The effort to have the state to accept crypto payments gained momentum in 2022, when state Rep. Mark Wright, R-Covington, sponsored a measure that set up a “digital assets working group” to look into the use of crypto in state government. Last year that study group ultimately recommended that cryptocurrencies should be an acceptable form of payment.
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