Colorado’s Polis says the state will accept crypto for taxes by this summer

Jared Polis, the Governor of Colorado (D), explained in an Ethereum-focused speech in Denver on February 18 that Colorado will accept state taxes and fees in cryptocurrency by the summer of 2022. 

“We won’t be holding those assets in that form, but we will have a layer that accepts payment in those forms and then conversion into the units that we use, which is dollars, for budgeting and payments,” he says in his ETHDenver talk. “But as a matter of convenience for the public, we will be accepting first for taxes and then for many different fees and services by this summer.” 

The reasons Colorado will accept crypto payments for state taxes and fees are for increased user convenience and faster payment speeds, the governor said. The state is still looking for the right company to facilitate these crypto transactions. 

Polis has been friendly toward crypto during his time as a member of Congress, playing a key role in the launch of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, a platform for legislators to discuss policy and regulation related to Web3 technology, in 2016. 

Polis adds in the ETHDenver talk that Ethereum and blockchain is a “critical part of Colorado’s overall innovation ecosystem,” and that Colorado will be a crypto-forward state.