Grab the Doritos bag while reading this article for full effect.
Here in Canada we produce entrepreneurs of the “highest” innovative spirit.
One of those entrepreneurs is Joel Yaffe, creator of “PotCoin,” a new crypto-currency that launched January 21 by “PotCoin Systems” a Montreal based software and web development firm. Today the entrepreneur is announcing that he’s launched the world’s first two PotCoin ATMs, appropriately so in Denver, Colorado, one of two US states that have legalized the recreational use of cannabis.
(One might wonder why they weren’t launched in Toronto or Montreal, in a country who’s Superior and appellate courts in Ontario have repeatedly declared Canada’s cannabis laws to be of no force or effect, and also where Yaffe is from. I digress.)
PotCoin’s big news came to fruition from the help of River Rock Wellness, which has actively contributed to the development of Colorado’s medical marijuana regulatory framework. The company holds a seat on the Colorado Department of Revenue’s Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee.
Launched on a late January day at precisely 4:20 PM, PotCoin’s goal is to “gather all the people in the world who want to legalize Marijuana and launch an industry specific crypto currency to help secure and facilitate transactions for our community.”
Now its rolled out its own PotCoin-dispensing machines.
“The goal of the ATM installations is consumer awareness of PotCoin, ultimately driving merchant adoption,” said Yaffe. “Merchants really appreciate the simplicity, security and the fee-less environment that we have complied for them and their clients. PotCoin is now implementing merchant services to coincide with the ATMs, resulting in a jump in consumer demand of PotCoin in the Colorado, the largest U.S. market for legalized & recreational marijuana sales.”
Yaffe might be on to something too: retail marijuana sales in the state of Colorado went from $14 million in January to $19 million in March. Half of that revenue came from the city of Denver. Moreover, the state of Colorado has issued 136 licenses for dispensaries to be opened in 2014, 74 percent of which will be in Denver.
“The newly legalized Marijuana industry is calling out for its own distinct crypto-currency, so PotCoin was designed to empower, secure and facilitate the Cannabis community; medicinal and recreational alike,” reads the site. “At every level of the Cannabis industry users can trust PotCoin to lend credibility and stability thanks to the power of very large numbers.”
There are 420,000,000 coins available for mining with 40-second block targets, resulting in 420 coins per block.
This isn’t the first time Yaffe has landed in BetaKit in the realm of Canadian startup news: he’s the cofounder of GuestDriven, an app designed to help hotel managers increase guest engagement. It raised $3 million in seed funding in February.