TL;DR

• Florida's Governor, Ron DeSantis, just proposed legislation that aims to protect residents of the state of Florida from the potential risks associated CBDC's and the increased government surveillance that may come with it.

• It hasn't been officially announced yet, but DeSantis looks likely to run for President in the 2024 federal election.

• It could lead to more states doing something similar. But for now, a proposal is a proposal. It has little impact.

Full Story

We've harped on about the good, the bad, and the ugly of central bank digital currencies (CBDC's) in the past.

As a quick recap:

CBDCs = government run stablecoins.

They sound harmless at first (and they may well be), unless they're used nefariously - like, say, if a government all of a sudden makes your bank account null and void because you purchased something that wasn't government approved...

Florida's Governor, Ron DeSantis, just proposed legislation that aims to protect residents of the state of Florida from the potential risks associated CBDC's and the increased government surveillance that may come with it.

The interesting point here though, isn't so much to do with the technology itself.

It's to do with - dare we say it - politics.

Here's a snippet from the proposal:

"Today’s announcement will protect Florida consumers and businesses from the reckless adoption of a ‘centralized digital dollar’ which will stifle innovation and promote government-sanctioned surveillance."

It hasn't been officially announced yet, but DeSantis looks likely to run for President in the 2024 federal election.

Stating his thoughts early around government-sanctioned surveillance and being a leading state in innovation is likely to get him some votes (certainly from the large crypto community based in Florida).

So, what's the impact of this proposal on crypto as a whole?

It could lead to more states doing something similar. But for now, a proposal is a proposal. It has little impact.

What we do look forward to, is reporting on the proposals and promises candidates may make around the Web3 space in the months/year ahead!