The state of Ohio has stopped accepting businesses pay for taxes using bitcoin, after becoming the first U.S. state to accept cryptocurrency for tax payments in November of last year.
The move was announced by Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague this Wednesday. In the announcement Sprague noted OhioCrypto.com, the website that allowed businesses to pay taxes with bitcoin, was going to be suspended.
Sprague detailed the website may fall under the definition of a “financial transaction device” and that BitPay, the cryptocurrency payment processor that was converting BTC to U.S. dollars for the state, should be authorized by the Board of Deposit.
Sprague said:
- Until a formal opinion is issued by the Attorney General, I feel it is prudent to suspend the website.
He added Ohio is still committed to embracing innovative technologies. The state started accepting bitcoin payments for taxes after former Treasurer Josh Mandel revealed he believes he sees bitcoin as “a legitimate form of currency.”
Not a lot of businesses used OhioCrypto.com, however, as by February of this year only two had used BTC to pay taxes in the state. Sprague revealed that in the 10 months Ohio has been accepting the cryptocurrency, less than 10 businesses used it. One is believed to have been Overstock.
Featured image via Pixabay.com.
