Former NBA Centre David Harrison Is Trying to Assist Legal Marijuana Firms!
As an employee at a McDonald’s restaurant, David Harrison quickly felt out of place ten years ago.
The 7-footer, who had been drafted by the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the NBA just a few years before, had trouble maintaining eye contact with his clients.
Because of my height, Harrison explained, “I couldn’t even take orders in the drive-thru window.” They are chatting away at my crotch while I stand here. That’s not the kind of place I belong in.
After his four years in the NBA came to an end due to his involvement in the “Malice in the Palace,” a conflict with his coach, and a league suspension due to marijuana use, Harrison worked at McDonald’s for two days.
Harrison worked at a fast food chain because of financial difficulties, suffered from depression, and spent time in China, but he’s back and hoping to change the finance system for the legal marijuana sector with a new initiative.
Token HiFi was founded by Harrison, his co-founder Chris Yim, and former New York state legislator Dan Donovan (who served from 2015 to 2019). The company will provide a digital asset and exchange platform for marijuana firms to safely deposit funds and deal with one another.
After talking with Harrison, Token HiFi chairman Donovan decided to join.
According to Donovan, “David is really enthusiastic and he believes in what he’s doing.” According to the reviewer, “He’s come up with something for folks who are licensed to do what they’re doing, and they just don’t have the capacity to use regular sources of financing.”
Token HiFi aims to aid the cannabis sector and will be released this year. Since many banks refuse to do business with cannabis shops because of federal laws prohibiting the possession and distribution of marijuana, dispensaries often have to rely on cash transactions. Although Token HiFi is only one of the numerous banking options for pot shops, Harrison highlights some key distinctions.
With our unique blend of patented technology and regulatory validity, we’re the only game in town,” Harrison proclaimed. “At the present time, any bank that attempts to provide traditional support for the industry does so at the risk of violating federal law. The worst part is that so much of the sector is still operating in the shadows, where it may cause harm and be exploited.
In January, Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, was asked if Vice President Joseph Biden plans to fix the banking problem for cannabis firms that are legal in certain states but not others. She claimed that Congress is currently looking into the issue.
“I’m basically starting a cannabis bank,” Harrison explained. “My method is simple. After registering with the site, you can use its features by logging in.
To explain how it will function: After a client contacts Token HiFi, the company’s cash is collected and entered into a DAV system. According to Harrison, a secure encrypted utility token can serve as both a medium of exchange and a means of storing wealth.
It’s possible to use the coins to make purchases, make wire transfers, or buy goods and services from other companies. According to Harrison, clients will have access to their coin worth at all times.
For the independent producer, “it’s what our industry needs,” Harrison argued. If a business needs to raise capital, for instance, it won’t be able to secure a bank loan. You have to part with your license if you don’t have access to venture finance or private equity funds. In addition, a monopoly would be formed if another corporation bought up all the licenses.
Unfortunately for Harrison, his first NBA season got off to a rocky start when he got involved in a fight between the Pacers and the Pistons and some supporters in 2004 at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The NBA did not penalize Harrison for going into the stands during the fight, but he was put on probation for a year, fined a modest sum, and required to complete 60 hours of community service.
Three years later, the Pacers replaced Rick Carlisle with Jim O’Brien as head coach. There was no improvement for Harrison as a result of the switch. According to Harrison, his volatile dynamic with O’Brien pushed him to smoke weed frequently, even before and after games. For breaking the NBA’s anti-drug policy, he received a five-game suspension.
Although Harrison’s father Dennis played in the NFL for 10 years, “at the time, the NBA wasn’t even testing for HGH,” Harrison recalled. In other words, I can jack up my steroid intake and still cheat, but I can’t light up and relax. Even though they were on the losing side of history, those men were averse to discussing it.
No team signed Harrison after the 2007-08 season, so he played four seasons in China, eight games in the G League, and tried again in 2015 with a professional team in Las Vegas, but the league never caught on since it was founded by a convicted scam artist.
Harrison, a father of three, had to work at McDonald’s for a while before landing a job as a financial consultant at Morgan Stanley. Following three years with Morgan Stanley, Harrison decided to leave in 2019 to pursue other interests and hence resigned.
As several of Harrison’s potential projects involved cannabis, he was unable to submit them. I eventually parted ways with Morgan and embarked on a series of cannabis-related endeavors. It’s a major pain to coordinate all of that. But, even after the event, you will still be unable to open a bank account. At that moment, the idea for what I’m doing now formed in my mind.
A former NBA teammate, Metta Sandiford-Artest, has been a source of inspiration for Harrison over the years and during the process (formerly Ron Artest).
After hearing what he was up to at the time, Artest encouraged him to keep going since “he’s always had a knack for business and entrepreneurship.”
“As a player, Ron would push me, and he does the same thing now in business,” Harrison said. He pushes me, but he also won’t let me give up. I can’t remember a time when he let me wallow in self-pity. Over the course of my whole professional and post-professional life, he has been an invaluable mentor and guide.
Now that Token HiFi is almost ready to go live, Harrison is looking at the future with a more optimistic slant. Having arrived at his current position, he can’t help but think back on the challenges he had to overcome.
“I don’t want my children to Google my name and simply read about how I was working at McDonald’s, was in a league that ended up being a hoax, and was the centerpiece in the ‘Malice in the Palace,'” Harrison said. I hope they can feel as proud of their surname as my father did of mine. And that is what I am presently endeavoring to do in this respect of my life.
