You say stablecoin, Wyoming says “stable token.” Or digital coin. Whatever, Wyoming will be the first state in the nation to have its very own stable/coin/token. Now I’m pretty sure there are a good number of folks that don’t know exactly where Wyoming is (it’s the big square state right above Colorado), but suffice to say it’s also located at the center of the digital universe. The state is, by far and away, the most digitally progressive state in the U.S.
Your first question probably is “how do you know that?” Well, we reside in the HUGE state right above Wyoming (Montana……you know, Yellowstone TV land) and have been following/writing about Wyoming’s progressiveness for years. Wyoming has worked with federal regulators “hand-in-hand” to change their banking laws to make sure that state entities would be fully compliant with Fed regulations. For example, Wyoming wrote its digital bank laws in collaboration with the Kansas City Federal Reserve. In fact, Wyoming’s current governor Mark Gordon was once a member of a Kansas City Federal Reserve Board.
So with every “i dotted, t crossed” and regulatory concern addressed, you would probably assume that Wyoming’s banking sector would be a household financial topic everywhere. Ah, but here’s the “rub.” The big national banks don’t like Wyoming’s plans. It basically would crush their business models. So, a few phone calls, a few political donations and magically roadblocks and detours pop up. But that game doesn’t work well here in the west.
Playing by the rules, and relying on Fed guidance, Custodia Bank and its founder, Caitlin Long, are having to sue the Fed for denying Custodia Bank’s application for access to the Federal Reserve system. The Fed claims that the Wyoming bank’s safeguards against money-laundering and support of terrorism aren’t strong enough, even though, as a Special Purpose Depository Institution and Wyoming state-chartered bank (Custodia), the bank already has to observe all the existing federal know-your-customer rules that are aimed at preventing that. In other words, go away, you little Wyoming bank.
It should come as no surprise that the Fed regulators (Treasury, FDIC, Federal Reserve, etc.) play favorites as to who gets to do what (and even survive) in the financial sector. But, they should know better than to mess with cowboys or COWGIRLS from Wyoming.
Wyoming will have its own stablecoin and the big banks will be following the Cowboy State’s lead in the future.
For greater and more in depth detail, check “The Cowboy State Daily” article on the topic.
Bet you’ve never read a Wyoming newspaper before.
