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Alabama has become a home for innovation and excitement in recent years. From aerospace to automobiles to agriculture, Alabama has found itself in a unique position to lead the nation in any number of important industries that will define the rest of this century and beyond. One such industry is the booming digital asset market, like cryptocurrencies, sweeping across America.
Cryptocurrencies, or “crypto,” use blockchain technology to handle financial transactions. Instead of a bank or the government controlling your money, a decentralized “blockchain” stores information about each transaction and ensures that it cannot be changed by outside parties. In other words, no one else can control what any other person does with their assets.
I host a weekly show called Beyond the Blockchain on Mobile’s Talk 106.5, so I know firsthand that Alabamians are curious about crypto. But even I was surprised by recent Morning Consult data that showed nearly 700,000 Alabama adults owned a digital asset like crypto. That accounts for around 18 percent of our state’s growing population.
As an attorney, I also have many clients who ask me how to implement blockchain and other crypto assets into their businesses or personal lives. The interest in crypto in Alabama seems to be at an all time high and growing daily.
With all this excitement around crypto in our state, Alabama is uniquely positioned to become a major hub of crypto innovation and job creation. However, some of our state officials are siding with anti-crypto politicians like Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden. Instead of bringing new industries and jobs to our state, they want to continue to let select institutions control your financial information. Some are even going so far as to sue companies that help Alabamans purchase, hold, and work with crypto.
Fortunately, some of our leaders in the state get it. Our State House and Senate both recently held hearings on the potential of blockchain technology to growth economy in our state. Governor Kay Ivey recently signed a resolution establishing a blockchain study commission. This is great progress, and I applaud our state’s leaders in this space.
It’s incredibly important for all pro-crypto Alabamians to raise our voices and tell our state leaders to be on the side of all the crypto-owning Alabamians to ensure that our state continues to be a hub for innovation and job growth in our nation.
