Florida Governor Ron DeSantis — Courtesy: Shutterstock — Hunter Crenian
Governor Ron DeSantis said the state of Florida is working on a plan to let businesses pay tax in cryptocurrency.
“I’ve told the state agencies to figure out ways, where if a business wants to pay tax in cryptocurrency to Florida, we should be willing to accept that,” DeSantis said Tuesday at a press conference. “We’re working through that.”
DeSantis has been taking advantage of the Sunshine State’s reputation as an emerging hub for crypto investment, with companies including Blockchain opening up offices in Miami. Blockchain.com is leasing a 22,000-square-foot office in Miami’s famous Wynwood arts district, right by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund. The company has plans to employ about 300 people in the building formerly called “Cube Wynwd” and will occupy the seventh and eighth floors.
Blockchain moved its Americas headquarters to Miami from New York last year, as South Florida has become a popular destination for crypto jobs. In December of 2021, DeSantis proposed a program to allow businesses to pay state fees in digital currencies.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has also embraced the tokens, saying he would receive his paycheck in Bitcoin in 2021.
DeSantis, a potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate, highlighted the difference between the decentralized nature of Bitcoin and what would be government-controlled digital currencies. He mentioned that he was concerned over an executive order signed by President Joe Biden about two weeks ago that called on federal agencies to conduct extensive research on a number of topics including the pros and cons of a government-launched U.S. digital currency.
“There’s a difference between a decentralized digital cryptocurrency like a Bitcoin and what some are talking about doing at the federal level to convert U.S. dollars into basically a digital currency,” DeSantis said. “I think there’s a lot of hazards with that when that’s centrally controlled. I worry about the amount of power that would give someone in a central authority to basically be able to shut off access to purchasing certain goods. We’d be in uncharted territory.”
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Born and raised in South Florida, Krystal is a recent graduate from the University of Miami with professional writing experience at the collegiate and national news outlet levels. She’s a foodie who loves all things travel, the beach, & visiting new places throughout Florida.