North Carolina’s state legislature passed a bill rejecting central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the state.
CBDCs are solely digital forms of national currency, similar to cryptocurrencies. They are issued by central banks but are not backed by anything physical the way traditional currencies are. Countries exploring them recently have included Taiwan and the Bahamas.
Lawmakers override their state’s governor
North Carolina’s Senate Bill 690 to ban CBDC was originally passed back in June, going through the state’s house of representatives 109-4, then passing the state senate 39-5. The measure then moved to the governor’s desk. Gov. Roy Cooper refused to sign it, returning the measure to the state’s general assembly.
“This legislation is premature, vague and reactionary and proposes an end result on important monetary decisions that haven’t even been made yet.” Cooper said at the time.
North Carolina’s state senate on Monday passed the bill again, overcoming the 60 percent threshold to become law without Cooper’s signature. CBDCs will now be prohibited as forms of payment within the state. North Carolina will also not take part in any possible future Federal Reserve CBDC testing.
