United States Lawmakers Introduce Bills to Exclude CBDCs from the Definition of Money

cryptonews.com:

United States lawmakers have proposed bills in four states to block possible definitions of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) as money.

The bills were introduced in South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Utah as anti-CBDC legislators seek to prevent the use of CBDC tokens in those states as the wider industry debate with digital currencies continues.

Rep. Tyler Clancy introduced the bill in the Utah Senate on Jan 4 that will block the use of a CBDC in the state, removing it from the definition of a legal tender.

The bill defines a specie legal tender, the legal frameworks around the use and acceptance in the state. While other rules by the Federal Reserve or foreign governments may include CBDCs as a form of legal tender to be used together with fiat, the law takes a different position.

“… a central bank digital currency is not a specie legal tender in the state.”

On Jan 9, a similar bill was introduced in South Dakota, which expressly states that money does not include any central bank digital currency. The bill sponsored by the Chair of the Committee on Commerce and Energy joins the list of CBDC restrictive provisions.

In Tennessee, Sen Frank Niceley filed the bill in the state senate on Jan 12 adding that the definition of money does not stretch to central bank digital currencies in the state. Per the bill:

“Money is a medium of exchange authorized it adopted by a domestic or foreign government… does not include central bank digital currency.”

Central bank digital currency means a digital currency, digital medium of exchange, or digital monetary unit of account issued by the federal reserve or another federal agency, a foreign government, a foreign central bank, or a foreign reserve system that is made