North Carolina Opts Out of CBDCs?

The North Carolina House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill on May 3 that would prohibit the use of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to make payments to the state. The bill, House Bill 690, now moves to the state Senate for consideration.

If passed by the Senate and signed into law by Governor Roy Cooper, the bill would make it illegal for individuals or businesses to use CBDCs to pay any state agency or department. The bill would also prohibit the Federal Reserve from using North Carolina as a testing ground for a CBDC pilot program.

The bill’s sponsor, Representative Harry Warren, said that he introduced the bill because he is concerned about the potential risks of CBDCs. Warren said that he believes CBDCs could be used to track and monitor people’s spending habits, and that they could also be used to censor or restrict people’s access to financial services.

The bill’s passage is a sign of the growing political opposition to CBDCs in the United States. In recent months, several other states have introduced bills that would ban or restrict the use of CBDCs. At the federal level, there are also several bills pending that would regulate or restrict CBDCs.

It is unclear whether the North Carolina bill will be passed by the Senate and signed into law by Governor Cooper. However, the bill’s passage is a sign that CBDCs are a growing political issue in the United States.