‘Hawaii residents have missed out’

Josh Mason, marketing director for the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, explores the history of the Division of Financial Institutions (DFI) rule that drove Coinbase out of Hawaii in 2017.

Is Bitcoin illegal in Hawaii?

It’s an arbitrary rule that doesn’t make much sense. It’s also not fair; the same rule doesn’t apply to exchanges trading volatile exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or stocks such as Tesla or Uber.

Worse, it has deprived Hawaii residents of being able to take advantage of the appreciating value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. At the time the division created its rule, bitcoins were priced around $1,000 each, which means Hawaii residents today would have almost $58 for every $1 they’d invested at the time, outpacing inflation and the growth of stocks from major companies such as Netflix, Amazon or Apple.

Grassroots Institute of Hawaii, March 29, 2021

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