TOLEDO (WTOL) - In a first for America’s history, Ohio is becoming the first state in the nation to allow businesses to pay taxes with cryptocurrency.
Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel announced the launch of OhioCrypto.com, which will make Ohio one of the first governments in the world to accept payments via the digital currency.
“We are proud to make Ohio the first state in the nation to accept tax payments via cryptocurrency,” said Treasurer Mandel. “We’re doing this to provide Ohioans more options and ease in paying their taxes and also to project Ohio’s leadership in embracing blockchain technology.”
The website walks you through how to make payments using the blockchain technology. The Treasurer’s office has partnered with BitPay as a third party cryptocurrency global payment processor.
“The State of Ohio is the first major government entity offering its citizens the option to pay with cryptocurrency,” said Stephen Pair, co-founder and CEO of BitPay. “With BitPay, Ohio can leverage blockchain technology and benefit from reduced risk and identity fraud as well as enabling quick and easy payments from any device anywhere in the world and get paid in dollars. This vision is at the forefront of moving blockchain payments into mainstream adoption.”
Payments on the technology offer real-time tracking of your money that can’t be transferred to third parties without user consent. A small fee is charged to confirm the transactions.
Payments made on OhioCrypto.com are immediately converted to United States dollars before being deposited into a state account.
The Treasurer’s office says Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency eligible for payment on the website, but are looking for ways to add other digital currencies in the future.
