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Thread: This start-up is building a bridge between banks and legal marijuana sellers

  1. #1

    This start-up is building a bridge between banks and legal marijuana sellers

    http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/15/tokke...juana-pot.html

    The marijuana industry is picking up as legalization sweeps the country, but there are still some wrinkles to be ironed out. In particular, most banks won't deal with weed businesses, which means they can't take credit cards.

    That means buyers have to carry cash, and sellers end up with huge amounts of cash on hand — some dispensaries in Denver can do sales of $500,000 per month. Transacting in cash increases the risk of theft, and if the sellers try to deposit large amounts of cash at the bank, they can be suspected of money laundering or other crimes.

    But one company thinks it's found a way to keep both banks and legal weed businesses happy.

    Tokken is a secure mobile payment option coupled with identification checks that meet banks' stringent requirements. It was founded by a former marine and regulator at the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency named Lamine Zarrad.

    "The trend is irreversible," Zarrad said to CNBC at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas. "Cannabis is not going anywhere."

    Here's how it works. First, a purchaser agrees to let Tokken verify they can legally purchase weed. That verification may include checking mobile carrier records, gathering bioidentification data used to log into your phone or triangulating who you are based on GPS coordinates.

    Once your information checks out, you can upload your credit card information to the app. When you want to buy marijuana, you simply provide a numerical code to give to the cashier.

    What about privacy concerns? "Have you read the Wikileaks?" Zarrad said laughing. "But we don't abuse that. We don't store the data."

    To get the banks to back the marijuana-related businesses, Tokken turns credit card transactions into a digital token. Those tokens can be exchanged back for money that can be deposited in a bank account. All the transactions are logged publicly through a blockchain ledger, the same process that makes Bitcoin completely anonymous and verified at the same time.

    Banks feel safe accepting this money because they are sure the purchases are legal, Zarrad said. It helps that Tokken uses the some of the same security regulatory protocols the government uses, Zarrad claims. (Other Tokken executives include Rita Crague, a former intelligence officer at the CIA, and Adam Healey, who was at Palantir and was a former advisor to U.S. intelligence agencies).



    Tokken is aware about the uncertainty around the continued legalization of marijuana, especially given Attorney General of the United States Jeff Sessions anti-pot stance. However, the Trump administration has been a supporter of states' rights, Zarrad said.

    "We are acutely aware they have been flip-flopping on the topic," he said.

    Tokken's verification system can help solve other issues, Zarrad said. Zarrad, who came to the U.S. as a refugee, said many immigrants and refugees are refused from banks because of verification issues. This often forces them to take jobs that pay out in cash, and prevents them from taking the next steps to securing a future for their families.

    "If we can solve this issue with cannabis and use this model to apply to immigrants and refugees, we can solve this issue with cash-based jobs," he said.



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  3. #2
    I've bought herb with a credit card a few times over the years. Not sure how they were able to do that, but it worked.
    "He's talkin' to his gut like it's a person!!" -me
    "dumpster diving isn't professional." - angelatc
    "You don't need a medical degree to spot obvious bullshit, that's actually a separate skill." -Scott Adams
    "When you are divided, and angry, and controlled, you target those 'different' from you, not those responsible [controllers]" -Q

    "Each of us must choose which course of action we should take: education, conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes. But let it not be said that we did nothing." - Ron Paul

    "Paul said "the wave of the future" is a coalition of anti-authoritarian progressive Democrats and libertarian Republicans in Congress opposed to domestic surveillance, opposed to starting new wars and in favor of ending the so-called War on Drugs."

  4. #3
    Banks feel safe accepting this money because they are sure the purchases are legal...
    Seems legit.

  5. #4
    Boy, it sure would be bad news if the banks were given information as to what the purchase was for, not just transfer money to X Business...

    Oh, wait... Didnt PayPal have something in their policy that no money would be transferred for guns / firearms?

    Without Financial Privacy, every transaction is subject to approval.

    That means you can be judged and transactions rejected if information about the purchase had more information in it, such as specifically what you are buying. The things they are going to deny, but are not illegal will be things such as Marijuana, Firearms, and sexually questionable items, even condoms. When this type of authority is applied to you, you now live in a Fascist State. You will be permitted (as if it is within the scope of their authority to grant or deny permission) to buy things such as orange juice, but nothing that could challenge the ultimate power of the state itself, such as guns or ammunition. This is absolute Behavioral Modification. Once you are powerless to resist their will, their encroachments into your life will continue until you are left with nothing. A government big enough to give you what ever you want is big enough to take it all away.

    Now, specifically relating to this article, this startup may very easily be immediately shut down and founders jailed if the Status Quo decides that what they are doing is trying to legalize a form of "Money Laundering". Financial Privacy is not Money Laundering, its just another excuse to control your life.
    1776 > 1984

    The FAILURE of the United States Government to operate and maintain an
    Honest Money System , which frees the ordinary man from the clutches of the money manipulators, is the single largest contributing factor to the World's current Economic Crisis.

    The Elimination of Privacy is the Architecture of Genocide

    Belief, Money, and Violence are the three ways all people are controlled

    Quote Originally Posted by Zippyjuan View Post
    Our central bank is not privately owned.

  6. #5
    Make them buy bitcoin first. Anonymous, no banks, no fees. done.
    Last edited by kfarnan; 03-18-2017 at 12:09 PM.

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by kfarnan View Post
    Make them buy bitcoin first. Anonymous, no banks, no fees. done.
    pseudonymous.

    every transaction can be tracked

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by merkelstan View Post
    pseudonymous.

    every transaction can be tracked
    Wrong definition. The open ledger is what makes it great. What if banks had an open ledger, showing the creation of currency, manipulation of loans, etc.?

  9. #8
    "(Other Tokken executives include Rita Crague, a former intelligence officer at the CIA, and Adam Healy, who was at Palantir and was a former advisor to U.S. intelligence agencies)."
    Deep State Refugees? Or?
    Don't let others get you down. Not naysayers, not pretenders, not appeasers, not opportunists; none of em.

    What others do pales beside what YOU do.

    Press on! - The r3VOLution continues...

    "Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."

    ~ C.Coolidge



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