The prospective buyer of Tik Tok, Reid Rasner from Casper, Wyoming spoke with lawmakers this week about Wyoming’s new “stable token.”
If you haven’t been following this, just know that Wyoming’s coin is the first of its kind in the nation and is essentially in a race with the federal government to see who can get it stood up first.
Stable tokens are a type of digital asset or cryptocurrency that are minted on a blockchain network. The system’s selling point is its quest to maintain a stable value by having its market value pegged to an external reference, most commonly fiat, or traditional currency.
Under Rasner’s vision for Tik Tok, Wyoming will house the data and cybersecurity. He described quantum computing and AI needs. Rasner encouraged lawmakers to be leaders in this and create private/public partnerships.
He hopes that Wyoming’s stable token will be integrated into Tik Tok, but liquidity will be the biggest issue.
Essentially, the new Wyoming coin needs enough assets to guarantee $1 trillion. This must be backed by the U.S. dollar. The stable token is special because it is $1 per one token, even if the dollar fluctuates, Rasner said.
To keep it liquid, the money gets transferred to the seller from the buyer and the new holder of the tokens might take that money out. So, the liquidity need is the biggest hurdle for Wyoming.
“We need to get it liquid very quickly,” Rasner said. He opined that Wyoming must work with some really large financial firms and look 10 years down the road. The opportunity for Wyoming is “massive.”
“I have some really great partnerships coming up that will make it very liquid for all of you,” he said.
Rasner said citizens could pay their water bill using the stable token. The government can incentivize the use of that stable token through vendors to compete with credit card fees charged.
“Think larger than just Tik Tok,” he said.
Rasner said there are only 30 days until the “acquisition” of the app.
“The opportunity for Wyoming starts at $30-$50B of income just collecting the interest off the treasury bills.”
Near the end of the presentation, some members of the committee let it slip that they were being asked to take these banking bills a little bit slower. By whom, we do not know.
Anthony Apollo is executive director of the Wyoming Stable Token Commission, which was established in March 2023 through the Wyoming Stable Token Act.
Apollo appeared on the Digital Euro Association online broadcast in January. He described the team he leads as “trying to create essentially a start-up within the context of US state government.” This is a point upon which some have been critical of this endeavor. Some doubt the stable token will have any benefit to banks and believe it will just set up a new competitor that is state-backed.
Officials have also been inconsistent in their messaging, at times describing the coin as a Wyoming currency, then at other times saying it is just a representation of the U.S. dollar held in trust by the state of Wyoming and invested in short-term treasuries.” That appears to be exactly what a bank does already.
But the Wyoming Stable Token will be backed by interest-bearing US Treasury securities and repurchase agreements. The plan is that treasuries should generate interest income that will be transferred to the Wyoming School Foundation Program, to fund the state’s public education system. So, the argument goes that the more people use the stablecoin, the more schools should potentially benefit.
Some critical analysts believe that, “WYST stablecoin might also be in direct competition with the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial USD1 stablecoin.”
In federal news this week, the GENIUS Act bill that would have established the first federal framework for regulating payment stablecoins failed in Congress.
Senator Lummis’ office issued a statement: “I’m deeply disappointed that we were unable to pass this important, bipartisan-crafted stablecoin legislation. Make no mistake, digital assets are the future and America must lead the way.”
This came after Lummis was critical of Trump’s meme coin event at the White House. The following day, the $TRUMP meme coin surged more than 50% boosting its total market value to $2.7 billion.
Some in crypto world argue that “meme coins” derive their value from internet culture rather than from an underlying utility or asset.
“This is the Wild West, and so when I hear things like this, my reaction is, we need to legislate so there are rules,” Lummis said.
In the big crypto pie, it seems that everyone wants a slice.
Cowboy State Daily columnist Cassie Craven is a University of Wyoming College of Law graduate who practices law in Wyoming. She can be reached at: longhornwritingllc@gmail.com
