"Banking has been on payment rails that are old and traditional," Don Morgan said on this episode of Plain Talk. "They were built in 1970. They're antiquated."

Morgan is the president of the Bank of North Dakota, which recently announced a new blockchain currency called the Roughrider Coin — a "stablecoin," in the parlance of the industry. He came on the show to talk about how that will serve the interests of North Dakotans.

The answer? It won't. Not directly. At least not at first. As Morgan's analogy about "rails" makes clear, the best way to think about this new currency is as infrastructure. This is a "blockchain-enabled transaction framework," Morgan said.

Right now, when you make an online payment, or you swipe your debit card at the grocery story, your transaction is processed through a lot of computers that ensure that you're nor using a stolen car, or that you have enough available credit or account balance to cover the transaction. But this process can be slow, and expensive both for the businesses accepting the payments and their customers making them.

Banks in our region will have the Roughrider Coin available to innovate when it comes to those sort of transactions. They'll be able to "begin to build a blockchain enabled digital transaction framework for banking," which would be the "first of its kind." The potential applications are numerous. Another example Morgan referenced was using the Roughrider coin as an on and off ramp for international currencies. North Dakota agriculture businesses frequently operate in various international markets, and navigating the various foreign currencies can be difficult.

This coin could make it easier.

Morgan also talked about North Dakota's new program aimed at helping furloughed federal workers and military workers through the government shutdown. The idea was implemented by the state Industrial Commission, which oversees the Bank of North Dakota, and it will facilitate 2% loans to furloughed workers for up to 90 days worth of their pay.

"These are North Dakota residents living next to you," Morgan said, arguing that it's right for the state to step in and help smooth out any disruptions to their lives.

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