Florida’s push to regulate stablecoins is testing the limits of a campaign built around opposing “Big Brother” financial surveillance. Governor Ron DeSantis, who in 2023 warned that a central bank digital currency (CBDC) could let Washington police Americans’ daily purchases, may soon sign a bill that hands Florida new authority over privately issued digital dollars. The state Senate unanimously approved Bill 314 on March 6, creating a framework for stablecoin issuers that would, among other measures, require firms to record transactions above $10,000—echoing existing anti-money-laundering (AML) rules. That requirement is at the heart of the political tension. DeSantis once championed a law banning a “centralized digital dollar” in Florida and has repeatedly warned of CBDC-driven surveillance. But Bill 314, by expanding state oversight and data-reporting obligations for stablecoins, resembles some of the monitoring tools critics say a CBDC could enable. DeSantis has not yet seen the bill in final form; his office told Decrypt it could not comment on potential conflicts, and he has not said whether he will sign it. Sponsors say the timing was urgent. State Senator Colleen Burton, who carried the bill, told Decrypt lawmakers moved quickly to prepare for a July deadline when states can apply to supervise certain stablecoins independently. A green light on Bill 314 would position Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) as the state’s primary stablecoin regulator, with power to revoke licenses over compliance, reporting, or criminal issues. The new rules are part of a broader regulatory push that mirrors elements of the federal GENIUS Act, a bill states are already aligning with. That alignment has stirred debate among libertarian policy circles: Nicholas Anthony of the Cato Institute told Decrypt it’s “much harder to square” DeSantis’ anti-CBDC rhetoric with a law that hands regulators more levers to monitor and control digital-asset flows. “CBDCs create a lot of problems with financial surveillance and control, but they don’t invent the problems out of thin air,” Anthony added, noting that non-CBDC tools already enable similar supervision. It’s important to draw the distinction between stablecoins and CBDCs. Stablecoins are privately issued tokens—examples include Circle’s USDC—typically backed by cash and Treasuries and circulating on public blockchains like Ethereum. CBDCs would be sovereign digital currency issued by a central bank and backed by the full faith and credit of the government. Still, the practical mechanics of enforcement can overlap: while many crypto wallets are self-custodial, companies such as Circle have previously used blacklists to freeze tokens and have cooperated with law enforcement to block bad actors. The state move comes as federal lawmakers continue wrestling with CBDC policy. The U.S. Senate recently passed a housing bill that would ban a CBDC until 2030 if President Donald Trump signs it—though that path is uncertain and some lawmakers, including Sen. Ted Cruz, argue a temporary pause isn’t enough. House Republican figures such as Tom Emmer have also pushed legislation to outlaw CBDCs outright. On the right, former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has claimed the GENIUS Act could open a backdoor to a CBDC—an assertion that has fueled broader suspicions about federal legislation touching digital money. What’s next: Florida could submit its application to the federal government this summer and, if accepted, the OFR would take on enforcement duties. Decrypt reached out to the OFR and Senator Burton for further comment. For now, the episode underscores a paradox in U.S. crypto politics: fierce public opposition to a centralized digital dollar coexists with state and private mechanisms that can produce similar surveillance and control effects—raising fresh questions about where the line between privacy and regulation should be drawn. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

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