US COVID-19 Relief Plan Will Use Fintech, but Crypto Not Welcome
American financial technology firms are now able to help Main Street businesses affected by the COVID-19 crisis via a federal relief plan, but cryptocurrency-native companies apparently don’t fit the bill.
The advisory board is a group of executives that includes representatives from leading crypto-payments and supply chain companies as well as small businesses and innovation thinkers. The board is intended to help organizations identify and address important aspects of blockchain technology that could benefit Main Street.
The Bitcoin Foundation wants to help Main Street companies understand the true promise of cryptocurrency and how Blockchain technology is positively impacting their ability to conduct business today and into the future.
Last week, the United States Small Business Administration released an application form for nonbanks to sign on as lenders under the federal Paycheck Protection Program, referred to as the PPP, so that they can provide low-interest, forgivable loans to small businesses affected by the pandemic. Since then, a number of high-profile fintech companies have joined the scheme, but none of the crypto-focused lenders interviewed by Cointelegraph said they were going to enroll.
As one Coinbase employee told the website CoinDesk, there is currently no way for Main Street businesses to access the relief plan. The Coinbase employee added, "It's annoying that there is no way for merchants and others to access the relief plan. We're trying to make it as easy as possible, but we're limited by our rules that state we can only be for an average of one-third of our customers, so it's a really tight squeeze."Though the Coinbase employee was perhaps talking about those rules specifically, there's no telling just how limited their decision.
The PPP is a two-year loan designed to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on small businesses, which are defined as companies that have 500 employees or less, although exclusions apply.
the aim is to reduce economic impact, and the program will be capped at a nominal $30 million. Under the program, firms will be issued loans in the amount of 2 cents per share for the first year. The total allocation for the two-year program will be $1.5 million. The loan proceeds will be used for payment of the initial private sector claims on the safety of the pandemic influenza vaccine during the first six months of the program, and the remaining funds will be used for paid leave. Businesses with up to 500 employees (employees with less than 75%) are eligible for PPP assistance if the affected business is not economically impacted by the virus.