Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below.

Ohio looks set to accept cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin for payment for state services.

​

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said on Sept. 24 on X that the State Board of Deposit had approved a vendor to facilitate the acceptance of cryptocurrency payments for state fees and services.

​

The vendor approval caps off a months-long effort that began in April, when LaRose and state Treasurer Robert Sprague called on the board to authorize cryptocurrency payments for state services. The board unanimously approved the move in May, pending the recent vendor approval.

Don’t Miss:

• A Battery That Lasts 100 Years? Paladin’s Solid-State Graphene System Is Changing How Homes and Businesses Store Power

• If there was a new fund backed by Jeff Bezos offering a 7-9% target yield with monthly dividends would you invest in it?

​

“There’s a reason why we now rank among the top five states in the nation to do business,” LaRose said in a statement. “It’s because we’re not afraid to embrace the tools, trends and technologies that incentivize job creators to come here. My office processes hundreds of thousands of financial transactions each year, and we’ve heard a growing demand for a cryptocurrency payment option. I’m excited and ready to be the first to provide it to our customers.”

​

The start date for the initiative and details of the approved vendor have not been announced.

​

LaRose did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Benzinga.

​

Still, the move has sparked significant excitement across the cryptocurrency community.

​

“It’s happening,” Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) legal chief Paul Grewal said on X. “Government payments in Ohio today. Everything onchain tomorrow. Thank you ser.”

Trending: Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund Just Backed This Farmland Manager — And Accredited Investors Can Join the Same Fund

​When the option goes live, Ohio will become the fourth state to accept cryptocurrencies for state fees and services, joining Colorado, Louisiana and Utah.

​

Beyond accepting cryptocurrencies for state services, Ohio may soon also exempt cryptocurrency transactions below $200 from capital gains taxes with the Ohio Blockchain Basics Act. The state House advanced the legislation to the Senate in June.

​

State lawmakers are also considering a bill to create a state  strategic cryptocurrency reserve, which would authorize the state treasurer to invest up to 10% of public funds into “high capitalization” cryptocurrencies.