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Teaming up with Musk to compete in the election, the Florida Governor competes in the presidential election: supporting Bitcoin and criticizing CBDC again

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Teaming up with Musk to compete in the election, the Florida Governor competes in the presidential election: supporting Bitcoin and criticizing CBDC again

Elon Musk publicly expressed his support for the Republican Party for the first time at the end of last year. He also held a Twitter Space conversation with the Governor of Florida, who announced his presidential candidacy. However, the conversation experienced technical difficulties due to overwhelming traffic, which was described by various media outlets as a disaster. The Governor of Florida reiterated his strong support for Bitcoin and emphasized the evils of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

Twitter Space Down for Half an Hour

Hosted by venture capitalist David Sacks, the Twitter Space featuring Republican U.S. presidential primary candidate Ron DeSantis and Elon Musk did not provide a good experience for over 560,000 Twitter listeners.

Due to app crashes and audio issues, the conversation was delayed for over half an hour before it began. President Biden also used this opportunity to promote his campaign donation website:

This link is valid.

Ron DeSantis: You Have Every Right to Hold Bitcoin

The host mentioned the struggles of U.S. crypto companies in the absence of regulatory certainty, such as Coinbase's recent request for specific regulatory framework from the SEC being rejected. What is Ron DeSantis' view on this? He stated:

Bitcoin is completely legal for the public to hold. The only reason Washington officials hate Bitcoin is because they cannot control it. These people are centralized planners who want to control society, and Bitcoin poses a threat to them. Congress has never resolved the issue of crypto regulation; they are just trying to make it difficult for the crypto industry to operate, so I emphasize returning power to the people and letting elected representatives speak for the public.

He also warned that if the authorities were to govern for another four years, they would likely end up stifling Bitcoin.

CBDC Will Make Nations More Authoritarian

The host mentioned the discussion of cryptocurrencies due to a large crypto audience on Twitter, with Musk chiming in that there are many fans of meme coins on the platform.

The discussion then shifted to CBDCs, as current Florida Governor Ron DeSantis passed legislation in March prohibiting Florida from adopting CBDCs. He believes that CBDCs are a means for the Biden administration to militarize the financial sector, solely for more comprehensive surveillance.

He stated on Twitter Space:

The Federal Reserve talks nicely, for example, they will negotiate with departments and Congress before launching CBDCs, ideally getting authorization. Wait a minute, it shouldn't be ideal, you "must" get congressional authorization, I don't think Congress will authorize, and if I were president, I wouldn't issue CBDCs, as it would have a huge impact on the public's financial autonomy and privacy.

He also pointed out that if the central bank introduces CBDCs, authorities will start implementing ESG standards, such as when a person's gasoline usage exceeds the limit for the week, they cannot refuel using CBDCs, and so on. He sees the existence of CBDCs as a massive transfer of power from the people to central institutions, which would be highly detrimental to democratic societies.

This is not the first candidate to include Bitcoin in their platform; former U.S. President John F. Kennedy's nephew, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was the first presidential candidate to accept Bitcoin as a political donation; biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy also announced that he accepts Bitcoin donations.