High Times, a prominent New York publication advocating cannabis usage, is breaking new ground in the cryptocurrency world by accepting crypto during its IPO, the first ever stock offering to do so.

High Times CEO Adam Levin said:

“High Times has been at the forefront of popular culture for more than four decades. Now we’re taking another step into the future, not only as one of the first cannabis-related brands to go public on the Nasdaq but also as the first to allow Bitcoin and Ethereum as part of our public capital raise.”

The offering is compliant with SEC Regulation A+ and has already begun taking in cryptocurrency investments. Regulation A+ enables accessible crowdfunding without being limited to wealthy accredited investors only, opening up the IPO to more people.

High Times filed a Regulation A+ report that showed a $29 million reduction in negative equity as well as significantly decreased operational costs and a debt reduction to boot, making a strong case to the SEC as to why the company is in a good position to sell securities.

The publication describes cryptocurrency as the currency of the future, with the CEO stating that the accessibility of Regulation A+ form of crowdfunding complemented that of crypto, allowing people to invest with greater ease.

“Cryptocurrencies have created a new investor base across the world—we’re just giving them more stable opportunities for investment. Beginning with our Reg. A+ crowdfunding, we’ve been focused on giving everyone from retail investors to long-time fans more ways to own a piece of High Times,” said Levin.

“While we didn’t believe that the ICO process was the right move for our brand, it would’ve been foolish to leave this emerging investor base out as we continue to transform into a diversified media, events and merchandise giant.”

The publication which has been active since 1974 is not the only company to shun the ICO process in favour of an IPO. Crypto-mining firm Argo Blockchain opted for an IPO on the London Stock Exchange in June instead of going for an initial crowd offering as many may have expected, becoming the first crypto firm to do so.

As the ICO craze of 2017/18 begins to die down slightly under more stringent regulations, it’s interesting to see a bridge being built between the world of traditional finance and cryptocurrency as IPOs accept crypto and crypto firms engage in IPOs, closing the gap between the world of traditional finance and that of what High Times refers to as the future of currency.