UK cannabis millionaire legal ‘on wheels’ deals via crypto

Financial failure will not spare medical marijuana millionaire and entrepreneur Maximilian White.

Europe's richest legal cannabis magnate has had bad luck twice in his own career and once under his father. However, his personal response to the Cyprus bank failure in 2012, when his business lost $29 million, was somewhat unusual.

Instead of spending the rest of the money, he blew it by buying a Rolls Royce that he drove around in public.

“I am a proud man. “I didn't want people to think I was lost,” he says. “I might as well be a poster.” In fact, he is a hard worker who is not afraid of failure.

Like many of his generation, White is now embracing blockchain — a unique use case for NFTs — as part of his business.

He says that like a cocktail, it is better than the sum of its parts.

“For example, a Manhattan cocktail is a blended mix of whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters. That's the combination that makes it great. To me, it's the combination of cannabis, blockchain and cryptocurrency – you can't go wrong.”

Who is Maximilian White?

White's early career was in music production, including working on a track with Drake for his hit “One Dance.” He also built and sold Beatport, a music streaming service that made him millions.

His love affair with Portugal saw him create Blanco Beach, a beach club frequented by Rio Ferdinand and featuring the likes of Tiga, Tory Lanez, Roger Sanchez, Rick Ross and French Montana. It has since been closed.

White also has ADHD, which has given him unique taste in music, from classical to UK funk and hip hop.

He says he knew he was going to be a business developer when he was still in elementary school. When asked to dress like a normal person, it didn't arrive like a fire or police department. Instead, he chose to dress like a businessman, wearing a sheepskin jacket and carrying a classic tote bag.

He began his work ethic in his early life, singing as a chorister in Durham Cathedral and singing that he had no rest, including singing Christmas Day.

Most of his wealth is sold to wholesalers of medicinal marijuana around the world and he has established the largest plantation in Portugal. He somehow managed to secure several government partnerships in previously unknown territories.

He has expanded to properties in Dubai, Mallorca and Eastern Europe and says his interest was sparked by losing his family home as a child. His father lost everything, and they had to go to the council house. In the year In 2022, his brother suffered an even more personal tragedy in the public eye during a brawl in a Dubai nightclub.

Legal marijuana and crypto

Many people who grew up with restrictive marijuana laws may be uncomfortable with legal weed, but in recent years, laws around the world have become increasingly liberal.

Also Read: How Silk Road Turned Your Messenger into a Distributor

Medical marijuana is now legal in more than 50 countries, and nine countries have legalized recreational marijuana use, including Canada, Germany, South Africa and Thailand. Ironically, despite its name in the Netherlands, weed is not legal there, even though it is frowned upon.

In the year In 2021, White told LedBible about his plans to create a cannabis industry cryptocurrency called MEDI. That token never took off—it got caught up in building the medical marijuana business instead—but after three years, it evolved and changed its plans to something new.

With the help of his old friend Ricardo Capo in digital marketing, who now serves as chief technology officer, White combined his cannabis product with NFTs to provide a tracking engine for the plant on the blockchain.

When dealing with NFTs, White says he doesn't see them as valuable pieces of art. Although Beeple's $69 million NFT sale dominated the news, White was unhappy with artist sales and royalties.

“But, I got instant smart contracts, that's what surprised me. I can see a future of business that will reduce the need for lawyers. People can buy cars or property using smart contracts, or sell your business with complete transparency. Smart contracts made me delve further into the space.

NFTs that represent business

However, White is not sure that the word has a good reputation anymore. Since he's already selling recreational cannabis, he's a little wary of doubling down on the word “NFTs.”

“People have lost a lot of money investing in NFTs, typically digital art, but what I'm excited about is the technology. So, I think the onus is on us to educate people about this real-world asset, or digital asset, and what it can do. It's not just copying art.

“I'm bringing it back to business,” he says, explaining how NFTs — which are special tokens — represent a fraction of real-world assets. “For example, maybe people buy assets today, use NFTs to show ownership. If you can't buy the whole house, you might be able to buy a part of it; You can sell that NFT in the future and make a profit and put it into your next house.

His latest crypto-related project is called Dr. Green, which uses NFTs as part of a distribution business, or what he calls “special trade passes for people.” A total of 5,145 unique NFTs give Dr. GreenDap access to build a community to sell cannabis. There are also plans to release platinum NFTs linked to cannabis-loving celebrities who are creating their own strains.

The DApp requires KYCing customers to ensure that the product is only sold in jurisdictions where it is legal. Payments are made in fiat or crypto, the sellers token in Ethereum. Dr. Green then ships the products.

Tracking the weed supply chain on the blockchain

White says blockchain traceability ensures product quality and has invested millions in “a cannabis farm, processing plant and R&D facility.”

“We've invested heavily in developing the most sophisticated medical cannabis businesses. By putting our recreational businesses on the blockchain, we're using technology to track everything, ensure we're complying with all laws, and also allow us to become a hub for decentralized entrepreneurs.”

In short, NFTs are little like a license to do business connected to a distribution network and can be traded to others if necessary. The price of NFT will increase based on how many customers it represents. Some see this combination of technology and entrepreneurship as a thriving business, while others see it as morally bankrupt and undoubtedly polluting our youth. But times are changing.

“Our NFTs are acting as a digital key or real-world asset that can plug into a company's systems that are already up and running.”

Interested, but still cautious about crypto

Despite his interest in blockchain, he is wary of the hype surrounding cryptocurrencies as a financial instrument and believes cryptocurrencies are inherently flawed compared to the dollar.

“How can crypto be decentralized if it is always denominated in real-world money? The dollar will never be decentralized, and I think that's a dangerous premise.

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Jillian Godsil

Jillian Gosil is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and author. In the year