DeSantis calls for ban on central bank digital currency

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he wants lawmakers to pass legislation banning the use of central bank digital currency, or CBDC, in an effort to safeguard Floridians’ finances.

“I am here to call on the legislature to pass legislation to expressly forbid the use of CBDC as money within Florida’s uniform commercial code,” DeSantis said. 

He said the proposal will make sure Florida continues to support innovation in the financial sector “while protecting against government surveillance over your personal finances.”

CBDC is a digital form of central bank money that is widely available to the general public.

DeSantis called out the notion of the government having a “direct view of all consumer activities.”

“Any way they can get into society to exercise their agenda, they will do it […] How do we know? Because we’ve seen this happen in other parts of the world,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis noted that central currency differs from traditional cryptocurrency, which is decentralized in nature.

The governor said the proposal would also prohibit any CBDC issued by a foreign reserve or government-sanctioned central bank.

“This will ensure that any effort to adopt a worldwide digital currency will never occur in the Free State of Florida,” he said.

DeSantis called for like-minded states to also adopt similar legislation into their uniform commercial code and to reject any changes to their uniform code that would formally recognize a central bank digital currency.

He spoke with Texas’ lieutenant governor and believes they may do something similar to Florida.

“I think it’s really important that states stand up to fight back against some of the things that are going on, or most of the things that are going on right now in Washington, because they don’t have your best interests at heart. They have their own power at heart,” DeSantis said. 

DeSantis said he has been talking to leaders in the Florida Legislature and hopes to sign it into law later this year.  

The governor said CBDC is part of a movement to “try to use the levers of economic power to control society and to impose an agenda on society.”

“They want to be able to impose their worldview on our society without being held accountable by any type of an electorate and that is wrong, and this idea of a central bank digital currency is also wrong,” DeSantis explained.

Currently, Federal Reserve notes – physical currency – are the only form of acceptable central bank money in the U.S.

“While the Federal Reserve has made no decisions on whether to pursue or implement a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, we have been exploring the potential benefits and risks of CBDCs from a variety of angles, including through technological research and experimentation,” the Federal Reserve’s website said.