Attitudes towards marijuana have been changing for decades since Oregon decriminalized the crop by reducing possession to a mere fine in 1973. Twenty-three years later, in 1996, Proposition 215 was passed, and California legalized medical usage. Since then, both medical and recreational legalization of cannabis has been spreading across the United States and beyond.
Founder and CEO of WEEDO, Olivier Le Grand, recognized the potential in this rapidly expanding and flourishing industry back in 2017. At that time, another phenomenon had already been growing for several years: blockchain transaction verification. With that, Le Grand had another moment of realization.
An already fervent supporter of both cannabis and cryptocurrency, Le Grand sat at his home one evening in late 2017 and took notice of the heat coming from his GPU and ASIC crypto-mining rigs. “I saw how warm my room became, and I had the idea that this heat could be used to keep agriculture warm,” Le Grand said.
Of course that agriculture in mind was cannabis. “I thought crypto-mining heat — that and solar power — could be economical and clean ways to grow a crop that has a prosperous future.” In December, Le Grand brought this idea to his old friend, Baptiste Dargaud, who instantly understood the potential of what would soon become WEEDO.
Growing up in Savoy, France, these two ambitious young men became fast friends while in high school. However, they parted ways when Olivier joined the workforce at seventeen, and Baptiste went off to Lycee des Métiers de la Montagne to study sales, distribution and marketing operations. The geographical divide between them could not have become any greater as Olivier next ventured east to Cambodia to launch So Sabay, a rattan furniture manufacturer; and Baptiste went to California to pursue a bachelor’s degree in finance at California State University Northridge.
Now, despite the great distance, Le Grand and Dargaud have put together a talented group of young professionals for WEEDO. With the ICO currently underway, Olivier has high hopes for the company’s cryptocurrency of the same name. Baptiste is confident as well, saying, “The blockchain will revolutionize everything, and it is only a matter of time before we use cryptocurrency to make everyday purchases.”
And as for Le Grand’s and Dargaud’s attitudes regarding cannabis… “Of course, we clearly endorse the spread of legalization. With perceptions on marijuana changing for the positive, we both see great potential for it in the marketplace,” said Le Grand. That shifting attitude is clearly evident in the fact that those favoring national legalization has increased from 25% in 1995, one year prior to the passage of Proposition 215, to 64% in 2017.
From Cambodia to the United States, these two old friends from high atop the French Alps are manifesting this changing tide towards legalized cannabis. With a far-reaching international team behind them, they are making WEEDO into a reality… one in which legalized cannabis and decentralized cryptocurrency converge. And only by joining forces with like-minded people around the world can they build such an ambitious new world.
As Le Grand’s favorite poet Alphonse de Lamartine famously said, “There is no man more complete than the one who travelled a lot, who changed the shape of his thoughts and his life twenty times.” Both Olivier Le Grand and Baptiste Dargaud are such men — the men behind WEEDO.
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