Florida governor, Ron DeSantis explained at a press conference on Tuesday that he’s spoken with state agencies and told them to figure out ways for businesses to pay tax with cryptocurrencies. During the signing ceremony for a bill focused on financial literacy, DeSantis said that the government is working on accepting bitcoin “for payments in the state of Florida.”
DeSantis Is Concerned About Biden’s Executive Order
Ron DeSantis (46th Governor of Florida) attended a press conference Tuesday to sign a bill which requires financial literacy at all schools in the state. DeSantis touched on many subjects as Florida’s governor noted that he is concerned about U.S. president Joe Biden’s recent digital currency-focused executive order. According to DeSantis, there’s a lack of understanding when it comes to decentralized crypto assets and centralized digital bank currencies (CBDCs).
“There’s a difference between a decentralized digital cryptocurrency like bitcoin and what some are talking about doing at the federal level to convert U.S. dollars into basically a digital currency,” DeSantis said. “I think there’s a lot of hazards with that, when that’s centrally controlled. The amount of power available to them is a concern. [it]It would enable someone at a central agency to effectively block the purchase of certain goods. We’d be in uncharted territory,” the governor added.
Ron DeSantis of Florida says that his Administration is looking at ways for businesses to be able to pay cryptocurrency tax.
DeSantis stated that Florida was working towards accepting bitcoin (BTC) during Tuesday’s signing ceremony. “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,” the Florida governor said. “We will accept Bitcoin, we’re working on doing that, for payments in the state of Florida,” DeSantis added.
The governor’s statements are similar to the comments he made in December when his administration proposed the “Freedom First Budget.” During a speech in Tallahassee that month, DeSantis told the crowd that he wants Florida to be “crypto-friendly.” The governor also added that his administration was looking into how to leverage blockchain technology for some of the state’s record systems.
DeSantis, who is a crypto-friendly governor, is now well known. However, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez also supports bitcoin. Suarez is eligible to receive a percentage of his income in bitcoin. He also announced that he plans to convert some of the 401k retirement funds he has into bitcoin. The administration’s “Freedom First Budget” includes $700K in funds dedicated to researching how to progress Florida’s relationship with cryptocurrencies.
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