Ron DeSantis – the republican governor of Florida – has signed a new bill into law preventing the issuance and use of centralized bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in his state.
Ron DeSantis Says “No” to CBDCs
Just over a week ago, DeSantis issued his thoughts on CBDCs and made his dislike of these assets clear. He stated in a press conference:
The danger of the digital currency is that they want to make that the sole currency. They want to put everything in a central bank digital currency. I think that that’s fundamentally wrong, so we’re recognizing the dangers with this agenda.
DeSantis said he was concerned about CBDCs given they would be issued by standard institutions, thus allowing monetary executives and ultimately government figures to spy and look in on what people were doing with their money and how they were spending their hard-earned dollars. DeSantis said Joe Biden and the rest of the democrats are working hard to ensure crypto doesn’t have a future in America given it’s not an industry they can control. He said:
They don’t like crypto because they can’t control crypto. They want to get rid of crypto, which my view is if you want to invest in crypto, it’s up to you. You can do it. You can make those decisions.
Now, DeSantis has put his words into action and signed a new bill ensuring that CBDCs cannot be issued in the state of Florida, nor can they be utilized by residents of the region. He commented that he believes all Floridians have a right to privacy and autonomy, something central bank digital currencies will eventually get in the way of. He commented:
Anyone with their eyes open could see the danger this type of an arrangement would mean for Americans who want to exercise their financial independence and would like to be able to conduct business without having the government know every single transaction they’re making in real time.
One can easily see DeSantis has a point. Crypto was initially designed to give people full independence and control over their finances. The reason crypto is decentralized is because it was built to ensure no middlemen, prying eyes, or third parties could enter the arena and tell users what they could and could not do.
No Prying Allowed!
Central bank digital currencies go against this very notion in that they take on a form similar with USD or other forms of fiat currencies. They will be issued by banks, meaning the same companies that shut certain people out or charge people for specific services will be able to do so again, only this time, in a whole new industry.
The idea is to have limited government control and invoke more strength in everyday people.
