DeSantis to Let Businesses Pay Tax in Cryptocurrency

March 24, 2022 Updated 8:17 A.M. ET

TALLAHASSEE (FCV) – At a press conference Tuesday, Governor Ron DeSantis said that he is going to allow businesses to pay their taxes utilizing cryptocurrencies.

“I’ve told the state agencies to figure out ways, where if a business wants to pay tax in cryptocurrency to Florida, we should be willing to accept that,” he said.

“We’re working through that.” 

Companies like Blockchain.com recently opened offices in Miami. Florida has become a safe haven for crypto businesses to operate, and DeSantis’ crypto-friendly rhetoric and policies are contributing to that.

DeSantis touched on how a cryptocurrency that would be launched by the government would be centralized while current cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are decentralized.

“There’s a difference between a decentralized digital cryptocurrency like a Bitcoin and what some are talking about doing at the federal level to convert U.S. dollars into basically a digital currency,” he remarked.

“I think there’s a lot of hazards with that, when that’s centrally controlled. I worry about the amount of power that that would give someone in a central authority to basically be able to shut off access to purchasing certain goods. We’d be in uncharted territory.” 

Cryptocurrency transactions are run via a ‘blockchain’ – a record of transactions that are updated and held by currency holders. It does not travel through a central authority, like a bank or the U.S. government. No single entity has control over the total number of cryptocurrency in circulation – for example, Bitcoin.