Musk's US Presidential Bet Urges CBDC Ban, Suggests Its Government's Way To Surveil, Control Citizens

Florida Governor and Elon Musk's presidential bet for the 2024 elections, Ron DeSantis, has proposed that lawmakers should enact legislation forbidding the use of any central bank digital currency (CBDC) issued by a foreign reserve or government-sanctioned central bank, adding that the federal government could just use the digital form of the country's fiat currency to spy on its citizens' finances.

The current administration of President Joe Biden is looking into the possibility of introducing CBDC. However, in an attempt to protect the residents of Florida, Governor DeSantis has come up with a legislative proposal that would prohibit the use of a national CBDC as money within the state.

"I am here to call on the legislature to pass legislation to expressly forbid the use of CBDC as money within Florida's uniform commercial code," DeSantis said, as reported by Florida's Voice.

"Any way they can get into society to exercise their agenda, they will do it [...] How do we know? Because we've seen this happen in other parts of the world," the governor added.

In his proposal, Desantis said that any CBDCs issued by either foreign reserve or government-sanctioned bank would be prohibited in Florida, which he believed would guarantee that his constituents never try to adopt a worldwide currency.

"The Biden administration's efforts to inject a Centralized Bank Digital Currency is about surveillance and control," DeSantis said in a Monday press release.

"Today's announcement will protect Florida consumers and businesses from the reckless adoption of a 'centralized digital dollar' which will stifle innovation and promote government-sanctioned surveillance," he added.

Aside from privacy concerns, the Florida governor said that a federal CBDC would downgrade the role of credit unions and community banks. He also underlined that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, unlike CBDCs, are decentralized in nature and greatly differ from central money.

Last year, the Biden administration released an executive order calling on the federal government to study the uses and risks of CBDC.

In June last year, Musk discussed midterm politics and shared that he voted for a Republican for the first time during the primaries. The Chief Twit also noted at the time that he would support Desantis should he run for president in 2024.

Musk made his comment about the Florida governor in a response to a tweet about Texas Republican Maya Flores, the first Mexican-born congresswoman who won the special election and took over the seat that was once held by Democrats.

Although DeSantis has brushed off questions about the 2024 presidential election, he either finished first or second in every straw poll when fared against former President Donald Trump.