Florida Governor Calls for Statewide Ban on CBDCs to Thwart Them Early

According to an announcement from the state of Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis has introduced a bill to prohibit the use of CBDC Central Bank Digital Currency in the state. He claims that CBDC is a means by which the Biden administration is militarizing the financial sector, and the bill aims to protect the people of Florida from this impact.

Digital Dollar Introduced for Comprehensive Surveillance

The bill will include the following measures:

• Explicitly prohibiting Florida's Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) from considering CBDC as currency.

• Prohibiting CBDC issued by foreign reserve banks or central banks that have been sanctioned, in order to protect global central bank currencies.

• Calling on other states to join Florida in implementing similar bans in their respective commercial codes to resist CBDC on a national scale.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stated:

The Biden administration's efforts regarding CBDC are merely for more thorough surveillance. Today's announcement can protect Florida consumers and businesses from the impacts of "centralized digital dollars." CBDC will stifle innovation and promote government surveillance. Florida will not stand with the central authorities; we will not adopt policies that threaten individual economic freedom and security.

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis also agreed, stating that central bank digital currencies can track all global transactions without any privacy.

CBDC Differs from Decentralized Cryptocurrencies

The announcement emphasizes that CBDC is controlled and issued by the government to consumers. Authorities can observe all consumer activities and have the ability to cut off payment channels for consumer purchases of goods and services, which is starkly different from decentralized cryptocurrencies.

CBDC will also weaken the functions of community banks and credit unions, further reducing the market's lending momentum.

Governor Friendly to Cryptocurrency

In March of last year, Ron DeSantis criticized CBDC with the same reasoning and attempted to push for the use of cryptocurrencies for business tax payments.

He stated at the time:

Decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are significantly different from the digital dollars some are discussing. Essentially, central authorities can directly restrict the public's purchasing rights for certain goods. We are entering uncharted territory.

China Emphasizes Anonymity Support for Digital Yuan

China's Digital Currency/Electronic Payment (DCEP) had a prototype as early as 2020 and there were reports of people being forced to accept it and unable to exchange for gold or foreign exchange.

However, Mu Changchun, the head of the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People's Bank of China, has previously explained to the public, emphasizing that DCEP has undergone multiple iterations, possesses value characteristics and legal tender attributes, and supports controllable anonymity.

DCEP| China's central bank Mu Changchun expressed the latest definition, stating that Bitcoin, Libra harm national currency sovereignty