Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to ban central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
DeSantis has proposed legislation that would prohibit the use of both federal and foreign CBDC as money, and called on others states to do the same by adding such prohibitions to their uniform commercial codes, according to a Monday (March 20) press release.
“The Biden administration’s efforts to inject a Centralized Bank Digital Currency is about surveillance and control,” DeSantis said in the release. “Today’s announcement will protect Florida consumers and businesses from the reckless adoption of a ‘centralized digital dollar’ which will stifle innovation and promote government-sanctioned surveillance.”
Related: Republicans Ask for DOJ Help in CBDC Fight
The proposed legislation would prohibit the use of a federally adopted CBDC as money within Florida’s Uniform Commercial Code, prohibit any CBDC issued by a foreign reserve or foreign-sanctioned central bank, and call on other states to adopt similar prohibitions, according to the release.
A federally sanctioned CBDC would allow government bureaucrats to see consumer activity, enable them to cut off consumers’ access to goods and services, and would diminish the role of community banks and credit unions by making the currency a direct liability of the federal government, the release said.
“A Central Bank Digital Currency is the cornerstone of a federal government that could track each and every transaction that happens in the world,” State Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said in the release. “There would be no privacy, and if there is no privacy, there are no rights.”
This proposal comes about six months after the U.S. Treasury Department delivered a future of money white paper to the President Joe Biden Administration that had a great deal of space dedicated to the topic of what a U.S. CBDC would look like.
