South Dakota Draft Bill Classifies CBDC as Money, Excludes Crypto

The state of South Dakota has proposed a new bill that makes specific revisions to what constitutes money. The bill explicitly excludes Bitcoin and other existing digital assets from the definition of money while including central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

Proposed Bill in South Dakota Bans Use of Digital Assets as a Medium of Exchange

The proposed bill, titled “An Act to amend provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code” and referred to as HB 1193, aims to change the state’s Uniform Commercial Code, a set of laws governing all commercial transactions in the state. It also includes a redefinition of the term “money.”

Introduced into the state House of Representatives by Republican Mike Stevens, the 117-page amendment defines money as a possible medium of exchange only if it’s “authorized or adopted” by a government. It said:

“Money means a medium of exchange that is currently authorized or adopted by a domestic or foreign government. The term includes a monetary unit of account established by an intergovernmental organization or by agreement between two or more countries.”

The bill detailed that the term money does not include “an electronic record that is a medium of exchange recorded and transferable in a system that existed and operated for the medium of exchange before the medium of exchange was authorized or adopted by the government,” which is an apparent reference to all cryptocurrencies.

Many in the crypto community have lashed out at the bill, which defines CBDCs as a form of money while excluding digital currencies. If approved, Amazon and all other retailers won’t be able to accept cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, as a form of payment, Andy Roth, the head of the conservative State Freedom Caucasus Network said.

This is a huge deal. The UCC is creating the framework for CBDCs to be accepted (and #bitcoin denied) via Amazon and all other retailers. All digital transactions.

This must be stopped. The good news is that we still have a chance to kill this in the 49 other states. https://t.co/lUhcjsN11D

— Andy Roth (@andyroth) March 2, 2023

Club for Growth Asks Governor to Veto the Bill

David McIntosh, President of Club for Growth, a leading conservative organization, has written a letter to South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, urging him to veto the HB 1193 bill that specifically excludes Bitcoin and other existing digital assets from the definition of money.

“HB 1193 is an assault on the free-market, American innovation and ingenuity, individual liberty, and U.S. national security, and it should be vetoed,” McIntosh said in the letter.

He mentioned that Bitcoin and other digital assets represent the most transformational technology since the advent of the internet, noting that they have the potential to grow the economy by trillions of dollars. He added:

“They [cryptocurrencies] are among the best hopes to protect our fundamental liberties to free speech, free association, and the free exchange of ideas, as well as our national security, all of which are increasingly threatened by authoritarian governments and entities.”

Despite numerous efforts, including introducing a framework on crypto regulation in September last year, the US has largely failed to introduce a clear rulebook for crypto in the country. Even as lawmakers have ramped up efforts to regulate the crypto industries, the lack of comprehensive crypto legislation has only created more confusion among crypto companies in the country.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said that almost all major financial hubs, including Singapore, Hong Kong, London, and most recently, the European Union, have released a regulatory framework for crypto. He warned that the lack of a clear rulebook would drive the crypto industry out of the US.

This article originally appeared on The Tokenist

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