A bill drafted by Vance Aloupis currently sits in Florida’s House of Representatives hoping to expand the acceptance of cryptocurrency within the Technology Sandbox participants.
What is Florida’s Technology Sandbox
Based on an idea of the UK, Florida created a Technology Sandbox. Fledgling businesses in the finance tech industry who wish to be a part of the sandbox need to apply. Once allowed in the ‘sandbox’ these businesses are given extra freedom to develop. Because these small businesses may lack the lawyers and fees associated with jumping through all the hurdles involved in creating a business within Florida, the sandbox allows them the flexibility to delay these hurdles until they’ve become well established and can ‘leave’ the sandbox. The businesses are allowed to experiment under the eye of the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, instead of becoming fully regulated businesses.
The goal behind the sandbox is to allow business ideas to grow without restriction. “It's a defined environment where you can experiment and play if you will. But Mom and Dad, the regulators are watching not far away,” says Andrea O'Sullivan, director of the Center for Technology and Innovation at the James Madison Institute (JMI). Some businesses will not emerge from the sandbox successfully, and that is to be expected. Those businesses which do, which become fully regulated businesses, will have learned many things along the way to contribute to their future successes.
How Does Expanding Help
“Allowing businesses within the sandbox to delve into cryptocurrency allows a whole new area to experiment with blockchain solutions,” says Gianni D’Alerta special Blockchain advisor to Gazitua Letelier. The increase in both flexibility and oversight creates an area of experimentation. The idea is that the businesses within the sandbox will work out the kinks of everyday dealings with cryptocurrency.
How Can We Help
At Gazitua Letelier, we want to help new businesses succeed. If you’d like more information on the Financial Technology Sandbox in Florida or blockchain and cryptocurrency within South Florida, contact us.
