- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has proposed legislation that would prohibit the use of a Central Bank Digital Currency in the state
- DeSantis claims that a CBDC represents the “weaponization of the financial sector”
- The governor wants to ban CBDCs from being allowed in the state
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has proposed legislation that would prohibit the use of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in the state, arguing that governments shouldn’t have such an excessive amount of control over citizens. DeSantis warned that a CBDC would exert “surveillance and control” at an unconscionable level, and yesterday announced “comprehensive legislation” to “protect consumers and businesses in his state “from the Biden administration’s weaponization of the financial sector through a central bank digital currency.”
DeSantis Fights Back Against CBDCs
DeSantis’ proposal, published yesterday, introduced the legislation as a way to “explicitly prohibit the use of federal or foreign CBDC as money” in Florida, citing three core principles:
- 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.
DeSantis claimed that the legislation would “protect Florida consumers and businesses from the reckless adoption of a ‘centralized digital dollar”, arguing that it would “stifle innovation and promote government-sanctioned surveillance”. He added that Florida would not “side with economic central planners” and adopt policies that “threaten personal economic freedom and security.”
“Backdoor Woke Ideology”
There was more. The press release explained how the introduction of a CBDC is “the most recent way the Davos elites are attempting to backdoor woke ideology like Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) into the United States financial system”, which is perhaps taking things from healthy skepticism to the edges of conspiracy theory. What certainly can’t be argued is the increased control over citizens’ usage and spending that a CBDC would usher in, something that certainly didn’t pass DeSantis by:
“Unlike a decentralized digital currency, a CBDC is directly controlled and issued by the government to consumers, giving government bureaucrats the ability to see all consumer activity and the power to cut off access to goods and services for consumers.”
The chatter about a digital dollar has been picking up in the past 12 months, with several groups and influential individuals coming out against the idea, and it seems that the next 12-24 months will see the battle lines become even more firmly drawn as the technology is developed and trials potentially run.
