Florida - Tuesday March 21, 2023: Governor DeSantis has proposed legislation to prohibit the use of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in Florida.
The Governor announced the initiative during a news conference Monday in Panama City even though there is no dollar denominated digital currency in existence now, and and no one in Congress has proposed creating one, nor has anyone in the Biden administration.
However, the Governor noted that President Biden last year issued an executive order to explore the creation of a digital currency and he wants to get ahead of the curve in the event that the federal government adopts a CBDC. He said the aim is to "protect Florida consumers and businesses from the reckless adoption of a ‘centralized digital dollar’ ... we will not adopt policies that threaten personal economic freedom and security.”
A centralized digital currency is different from Bitcoin or other crypto currencies, said the Governor. "A centralized digital currency is directly controlled and issued by the government to consumers," he said. "It provides the government with a direct view of all consumer activities."
The proposed legislation would:
• Expressly prohibiting the use of a federally adopted Central Bank Digital Currency as money within Florida’s Uniform Commercial Code (UCC).
• Instituting protections against a central global currency by prohibiting any CBDC issued by a foreign reserve or foreign sanctioned central bank.
• Calling on likeminded states to join Florida in adopting similar prohibitions within their respective Commercial Codes to fight back against this concept nationwide.