DeSantis to U.S. government: Florida will resist, outlaw CBDC
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis sent a strong message to the executive branch of the U.S. federal government on the possible unilateral implementation of a central bank digital currency, or CBDC.
Under a CBDC, all transactions would be digitally trackable and visible to a central governmental body.
“I think what the danger of the digital currency is that, one, they want to make that the sole currency, they want to get rid of crypto,” he said. “They don’t like crypto because they can’t control crypto. So they want to put everything in a central bank digital currency.”
DeSantis continued, warning that if the federal government can “get away” with the digital currency system, “they will impose ESG and social credit scores onto that.”
“I don’t think Congress would authorize it, but if the Fed or the Treasury tries to do it unilaterally – in Florida, we [will] have a prohibition against that,” the governor said. “That’s ensuring your financial independence and making sure that we don’t have a financial surveillance state where they know every transaction that you’re making.”
“I think that that’s fundamentally wrong. So, we are recognizing the dangers with this agenda.”
In April, DeSantis grilled the Federal Reserve for the suggestion of a CBDC being implemented “ideally” with authorization from Congress.
A Twitter thread from the agency was crafted to answer questions on the “FedNow” service, which is a new digital system launching in July that aims to enable businesses and individuals to send instant payments.
“It is not merely ‘ideal’ that major changes in policy receive specific authorization from Congress; it is constitutionally required,” DeSantis said. “Unaccountable institutions cannot impose a CBDC on Americans. They will tell us that CBDC won’t be abused but we are wise enough to know better.”
“This wolf comes as a wolf.”
In March, DeSantis called for a total ban on CBDC in Florida.
At the press conference Tuesday, he said in the near future, an anti-CBDC law would be signed.
DeSantis’ Jacksonville presser was to announce the signing of anti-social credit score and anti-environmental, social and corporate governance, or ESG, legislation.
