Grower's International (GRW) is a cryptocurrency for legal cannabis growers and entrepreneurs that was announced on bitcointalk on 4/20/2017. I'm particularly excited about this project because I honestly initially believed it might be a scam since I couldn't find much information about the developers and the ICO was to be hosted on Yobit, a scam-ridden exchange currently under investigation by the Russian authorities.
After relaying this to 
GRW stands out among the cannabis-themed cryptocurrencies I've come across by starting with an online retail shop for hydroponics and growing equipment you can pay for in Bitcoin or receive discounts for using GRW. Many cannabis currencies have focused on wholesale and retail cannabis purchases but getting people to adopt new currencies can be tricky without a clear, consistently superior reason to do so. GRW plans to offer equipment to GRW holders at the employee-discounted rate of 10% above cost and 20% of profits on all non-GRW purchases will be reinvested in GRW. The website launched on July 3 with over 12,000 products so go check it out!
Forked from the Crypto Circuit's source code, the blockchain will operate on a proof-of-stake consensus algorithm with an 8-hour minimum stake time and 5% annual growth. Their ambitious roadmap includes an ICO, social media and marketing campaign, grower consultations, a licensed grow operation, a blockchain-based seed-to-sale tracking system, strain registration, and investment platform.
I do have one major criticism that has less to do with GRW in particular and more to do with the current state of cryptocurrency and ICO's and my problem has to do with the general lack of recognition between a token with transactional value and a token with speculative value. Based on the currencies I'm currently aware of I would genuinely argue that the USD Tether coin to a lesser degree and Steem Dollars in particular have a better chance of actually being used to buy coffee ten years down the road than king Bitcoin or any of the other major digital currencies in circulation. Why?
People know when they buy Steem Dollars that the value will purposefully be kept at a given level. The ingenuity of Steemit splitting their currency between Steem, Steem Dollars, and Steem Power has to do with the ability of each asset to perform a given function. Trying to use a single token for both speculative and transactional purposes doesn't make sense because we haven't found a good way to balance those characteristics in a single token yet. Steem Dollars have transactional value, Steem has speculative value, and Steem Power maintains reputational value on the Steemit platform. If GRW issued two tokens – one representing speculative interest in Grower's International as a business and one focused on transactions – I believe they would be much better positioned to service the legal cannabis industry.
That being said, I also wish the developers would share a bit more about themselves on the announcement but they certainly deserve a lot of credit for taking their time and having such a thorough plan. The legal cannabis industry has a plethora of opportunity for those who can help producers and retailers navigate the complexities of payment processing and banking through the gray area in which many cannabis laws have been enacted. If they continue on with the solid foundation they seem to be laying I expect great things from Grower's International so make sure to keep an eye out for them!
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