Hawaii Extends Crypto Pilot Program to June 30, 2024
Today, the Division of Financial Institutions, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and Hawai‘i Technology and Development Corporation announced a two-year extension of the Digital Currency Innovation Lab, Hawaii’s crypto pilot program that was initially set to expire in a few weeks. This allows the current cohort of the following15 companies to continue to conduct virtual currency transactions without meeting the state money transmitter requirements:
Apex Crypto
bitFlyer
Bitstop
BlockFi
CEX.IO
Cloud Nalu
Coinme
ErisX
Flexa
Gemini
Novi
Provenance Technologies, Inc.
River Financial
SoFi
Uphold
The existing list of approved companies of the pilot program have the option to continue, subject to the acceptance of a new agreement and additional fees. However, you run the risk of no way of withdrawing your assets should your exchange of choice choose not to continue in the extended pilot program for an additional two years. This is where a hardware wallet such as the Ledger Nano X come in to play. Allowing you to transfer your crypto and NFTs away from the mercy of the exchanges.
Why it matters: Prior to today’s announcement, any digital currency issuers without a state money transmitter license would have no longer been allowed to do business in Hawaii after June 30, 2022. The only transactions supposed to be allowed between July 1 to December 30, 2022 were to close accounts.
Key takeaways:
Cryptocurrencies are pushing deeper into the mainstream and it’s a positive sign that Hawaii will be participating in progress and innovation.
For context, there are approximately 134K Hawaii residents who transacted over $800 million in digital currencies through the approved companies of the pilot program.
It is still important to understand the benefits and utility of a hardware wallet. As a hedge against risk it might make sense for those who don’t actively trade to do so.