House Bill 690, “No State Cryptocurrency Payments,” will prohibit North Carolina citizens from paying the state with bitcoin.
The North Carolina General Assembly has introduced a bill that would ban the use of bitcoin as payment to state or government agencies.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the original intent of the bill was to prevent the use of CBDCs in the country — however, the wording in the bill includes cryptocurrencies and bitcoins instead of digital currency coins, and appears to be directly billing the use of anti-bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. .
Billwhich bears the short title “No Cryptocurrency Payments to the State,” and is overseen by House of Representatives Warren And Brodyoffers two definitions.
It defines cryptocurrency as “a digital or virtual currency that relies on cryptography to conduct transfers and a decentralized network for recording transactions,” and a government agency as “any institution, office, board of directors, commission, official, or political subdivision of a state.”
The bill then declares that “no state agency may accept payments using cryptocurrency,” and that “the law is effective when it becomes law.”
Although the bill is short, it would be a step in the wrong direction for the state, which recently saw other legislation pushed forward to halt bitcoin mining operations in the county that includes the city of Asheville.
The source familiar with the matter stated that the bill is likely to be challenged and that efforts to educate lawmakers will likely be undertaken.