Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Proposes Law to Ban CBDCs – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has proposed legislation that would make it illegal for a national central bank digital currency (CBDC) to be used as money within his state. “I am here to call on the legislature to pass legislation to expressly forbid the use of CBDC as money within Florida’s uniform commercial code,” DeSantis said.
He claims that the proposal will ensure that Florida continues to support financial innovation “while protecting against government surveillance over your personal finances.” CBDC is a digital currency that is widely available to the general public. DeSantis criticized the idea that the government has a “direct view of all consumer activities.”
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“Any way they can get into society to exercise their agenda, they will do it. How do we know? Because we’ve seen this happen in other parts of the world,” DeSantis explained. DeSantis pointed out that central currency is not the same as traditional cryptocurrency, which is decentralized. The governor also stated that any CBDC issued by a foreign reserve or a government-sanctioned central bank would be prohibited under the proposal.
“This will ensure that any effort to adopt a worldwide digital currency will never occur in the Free State of Florida,” he said. DeSantis urged other states to enact similar measures and to oppose any modifications to the universal business code that would formally recognize a central bank digital currency. He met with Texas’ lieutenant governor and believes the state will follow in Florida’s footsteps.
“I think it’s really important that states stand up to fight back against some of the things that are going on, or most of the things that are going on right now in Washington, because they don’t have your best interests at heart. They have their own power at heart,” DeSantis said. DeSantis stated that he has spoken with leaders in the Florida Legislature and hopes to sign the bill into law later this year.
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CBDC, according to the governor, is part of a movement that “try to use the levers of economic power to control society and to impose an agenda on society.” “They want to be able to impose their worldview on our society without being held accountable by any type of an electorate and that is wrong, and this idea of a central bank digital currency is also wrong,” DeSantis explained. Federal Reserve notes – physical currency – are currently the only form of acceptable central bank money in the United States.
