DeSantis Promises To Protect Crypto And Abolish CBDC, Predicts BTC Will Die If Biden Gets Reelected

Republican presidential nominee and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has expressed his support for Bitcoin, promised to protect the cryptocurrency industry and vowed to abolish CBDC while noting that the world's largest asset by market capitalization could die if U.S. President Joe Biden gets reelected.

DeSantis launched his candidacy during a Twitter Spaces discussion with tech billionaire Elon Musk on Wednesday evening, just a month after he told Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo that he was "not a candidate" in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

The Republican Party's latest leadership candidate discussed his position on cryptocurrency and central bank digital currency (CBDC), among other topics.

"I think people should be able to do Bitcoin," DeSantis said on the platform as more than 6.5 million people tuned in.

"As president, we'll protect the ability to do things like Bitcoin," he added.

The current governor of Florida, who signed legislation restricting the use of CBDC within the state, said Bitcoin is a matter of civil liberties. He also noted that his political opponents' attempts to prohibit cryptocurrencies are a government overreach.

"I just do not have the itch to have to control everything that people may be doing in this space," DeSantis said.

"Bitcoin represents a threat to them, they're trying to regulate it out of existence," he explained.

During the event, which was moderated by venture capitalist David Sack, DeSantis also suggested Congressional authorization for a CBDC and vowed to avoid it if elected due to concerns over its possible misuse and abuse.

"I see it as a massive transfer of power from individual consumers to a central authority, and I don't think that's good for a free society," he said.

"I'm a 'no' on [a] central bank digital currency," he confirmed.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said in July 2021 that a CBDC would "ideally" get written approval from Congress, but DeSantis assured that it would not happen on his watch.

"You must get authorization from Congress," the Florida governor said, adding, "I can tell you, if I'm president, we are not doing a central bank digital currency."

DeSantis also claimed that Bitcoin could die if Biden gets reelected.

"I think the current regime, clearly, they have it out for Bitcoin, and if it continues for another four years, they'll probably end up killing it," he said.

DeSantis' statements match those of Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said last week that Bitcoin is an example of democracy and damnation to authoritarians.