Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, during a news conference on Tuesday, said that he has spoken with state agencies and instructed them to find ways for companies to pay taxes using cryptocurrency. DeSantis claimed the government is working on accepting bitcoin “for payments in the state of Florida” during the signing ceremony for a measure centred on financial literacy.
DeSantis Concerned About Biden’s Executive Order
On Tuesday, Ron DeSantis, Florida’s 46th governor, came at a news conference alongside his colleagues to sign a measure requiring financial literacy in all public schools in the state. DeSantis addressed a variety of topics, including his concerns about US President Joe Biden’s new executive order on digital currencies. When it comes to decentralized crypto assets and centralized digital bank currencies, according to DeSantis, there is a lack of understanding about Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).
“There’s a distinction between a decentralized digital cryptocurrency like bitcoin and what some are proposing at the government level, which is to turn US dollars into essentially a digital money,” DeSantis explained.
“I think there are a lot of risks with it when it’s centrally managed. I’m concerned about how much power it would allow someone in a central authority to effectively block access to purchasing specific things. We’d be venturing into an unknown area,” the governor remarked.
Florida Governor For Tax Payments Through Crypto
DeSantis stated during the signing ceremony on Tuesday that the state of Florida is preparing to adopt digital currencies such as bitcoin (BTC). “I’ve urged the state agencies to develop out methods where if a company wants to pay tax in bitcoin to Florida, we should be happy to take it. We will accept Bitcoin for payments in the state of Florida, and we’re working on it,” DeSantis stated.
The governor’s statements echo his remarks from December when his administration submitted the “Freedom First Budget”. DeSantis said in a speech in Tallahassee that month that he wants Florida to be “crypto-friendly”. The governor also stated that his government was investigating how blockchain technology may be used to improve some of the state’s record-keeping processes.
While DeSantis is gaining a reputation as a crypto-friendly governor, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is a bitcoin supporter as well. Suarez gets paid in bitcoin a portion of his income, and he declared last December that he wanted to convert a portion of his 401k retirement plan to bitcoin.
The administration’s “Freedom First Budget” contains $700,000 for studying ways to advance Florida’s cryptocurrency partnership.
