DeSantis Administration Vows to ‘Never Recognize a Centralized Digital Currency’

The DeSantis administration is vowing to “never recognize a centralized digital currency” in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis’s press secretary Bryan Griffin said on Tuesday, touting legislation that would do just that.

“It cannot be overstated how important this is. With this legislation, FL is vowing that it will NEVER recognize a centralized digital currency,” Griffin said in a thread posted Tuesday.

“Centralized digital $ is critical to big gov’t & globalist agendas. @GovRonDeSantis is crippling their greatest measure of control,” he continued, sharing a document detailing Florida’s bill, which would “prohibit the use of federally sanctioned CBDC as money within Florida’s Uniform Commercial Code” and ban “CBDCs issued by foreign government reserves and central banks, including China’s Digital Yuan.”

DeSantis is also urging other states to take action against the threat posed by a centralized global currency, noting that it violates personal privacy and opens the door to “government sanctioned surveillance,” per the flier:

Florida’s House Bill 7049 and Senate Bill 7054 effectively address the issues surrounding CBDCs.

DeSantis commented on Monday after the federal reserve announced it had “made no decision on issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) & would not do so without clear support from Congress and executive branch, ideally in the form of a specific authorizing law.”

“It is not merely ‘ideal’ that major changes in policy receive specific authorization from Congress; it is constitutionally required,” DeSantis hit back.

“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,” he added. “This wolf comes as a wolf.”

DeSantis originally announced a legislative agenda to protect Floridians from CBDC in March.

“The Biden administration’s efforts to inject a Centralized Bank Digital Currency is about surveillance and control,” DeSantis said at the time, adding that it would “protect Florida consumers and businesses from the reckless adoption of a ‘centralized digital dollar’ which will stifle innovation and promote government-sanctioned surveillance.”

“Florida will not side with economic central planners; we will not adopt policies that threaten personal economic freedom and security,” he added.

The month prior, in February, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) introduced legislation that would stop the issuance of CBDC via the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act: