According to Cointelegraph, North Carolina’s General Assembly has passed a bill prohibiting the state from implementing a United States Federal Reserve-issued central bank digital currency (CBDC). The Senate overrode a veto by Governor Roy Cooper, with a 27-17 vote on September 9, narrowly surpassing the 60% majority needed to pass House Bill 690 into law.
The bill forbids North Carolina from accepting CBDCs as a form of payment and prohibits participation in future CBDC tests conducted by any Federal Reserve branch. This legislative move follows a 73-41 vote in the House to overturn Cooper’s veto in early August. Cooper’s initial veto on July 5 came after a lopsided 109-4 vote in the House and a 39-5 vote in the Senate a month earlier. The latest Senate vote saw 12 Democrats who initially supported the bill flipping to support Cooper’s veto, resulting in no Senate Democrats voting to pass the bill this time.
Mitchell Askew, head analyst at Blockware Solutions, expressed his amazement at seeing CBDCs officially banned in his native state but was displeased with the Senate vote outcome. He suggested that the 12 Democrats flipping their position confirmed his hypothesis that the veto was due to partisan politics. Dan Spuller, head of industry affairs at the Blockchain Association, stated in a September 9 post that Cooper’s veto missed an opportunity to send a united message against CBDCs to the Federal Reserve.
Governor Cooper’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the bill’s passing. While the Federal Reserve has researched CBDCs, Chair Jerome Powell stated on July 31 that there is no significant progress on a US-issued CBDC. At a federal Senate Banking Committee hearing in March, Powell mentioned that the US was far from recommending or adopting a central bank digital currency in any form. Despite these assurances, the US House passed the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act in May, and a companion bill has been introduced to the Senate by Senator Ted Cruz.
Alex