State Senator Introduces Bill to Make Bitcoin Legal Tender in Arizona
In the last 24 hours, state Senator Wendy Rogers, a Republican, has introduced a bill in Arizona that would make Bitcoin legal tender in the state.
This follows another Republican, Don Huffines, a current candidate for Texas governor, exclaiming he would indeed make Bitcoin legal tender if he is elected. Additionally, last September we saw El Salvador and their President Nayib Bukele introduce Bitcoin as legal tender alongside the USD, remaining the only nation currently across the globe that has made BTC, or a cryptocurrency, an official currency.
The bill, SB 1342, seeks to amend the list of accepted legal tender to include bitcoin. As a result, BTC as a new financial instrument and peer-to-peer digital currency would be able to be accepted for the payment of debt, public charges, taxes and other dues. Furthermore, all transactions that are currently done in USD in Arizona can most likely be done in BTC, including payments, payout and even citizens opting to receive their salaries directly in BTC, as well as companies being able to harness complete freedom as to how they could effectively utilise Bitcoin.
The introduction of SB 1342 follows Senator Rogers’ promise to make Arizona a cryptocurrency friendly state. In September of 2021, Rogers was appointed to the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Study committee. The group seeks to “review data on the scope of blockchain and cryptocurrency throughout the country” and to determine how blockchain technology can fit into Arizona’s current financial infrastructure.
However, it is questionable whether the legal tender can go into effect, given that the U.S. Constitution actually forbids any individual state such as Arizona creating their own legal tender.
Irrespective, the news presents great positivity, as it introduces the idea of citizens and businesses having complete freedom to transact with and store wealth in an incorruptible form of money without the need of central intermediaries. It also provides positivity with the current state of the cryptocurrency market. As of writing, BTC is almost at $38k, up 2.5% from the previous day, with ETH up to $2.5k, up almost 6% from yesterday.
