Conservatives have promised to implement sound monetary policy in Washington by 2025, but the battle for financial freedom is closer to home than you might expect. States pioneered this initiative and should build on this national momentum to defend American financial freedoms at the local level.
This month, the Republican National Committee released a draft proposal for changes to the party platform that would affirm the party's stance against a central bank digital currency, also known as a CBDC or digital dollar, and in support of the right to mineown and privately transact in digital assets like Bitcoin.
Sound monetary policy has been an increasing focus in the 2024 election as the Republican Party… Candidates As former President Trump and Vivek Ramaswami in public President Donald Trump backed digital assets — specifically Bitcoin — while denouncing the implementation of a CBDC. Even independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. holds a similar stance on these issues.
As recent as these issues may seem on a national level, states have long been debating the need for sound currency. The Idaho Republican Party was the first first to add pro-digital assets and anti-CBDC language to a major state party platform. The Gem state also considered two bills during the 2024 legislative session that would have fulfilled that pillar of the platform, but ultimately failed by close votes in the House and Senate.
Although Idaho still faces obstacles, other states have successfully implemented sound monetary policies in recent years. Florida passed legislation to prohibition CBDC. North Carolina and Arizona considered similar legislation that ultimately failed. Meanwhile, Wyoming, Montana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana approved legislation to defend fundamental rights over digital assets.
The policies come as states seek to curb threats to Americans' liberties posed by private banks and federal bureaucracy.
Financial institutions are the new arena of the left's culture war. Many banks are ending their business with certain religious institutions. OrganizationsFirearms manufacturerseither not green This can be crippling in a modern, largely digital economy, and threatens agriculture, mining and energy, some of the leading industries in Idaho’s economy.
Privacy is also a major concern for many Americans. The federal government uses its power over the banking system as a weapon to look for citizens' transaction histories without a court order, even though this violates the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution.
Worse still, bureaucracies in Washington, DC, dissatisfied with their current degree of overreach, want to monitor and control the financial transactions of all Americans through a CBDC. This new digital dollar could offer an unprecedented advantage. control through programmable issuance, use and taxation.
It is worrying that bureaucrats want even more control over a financial system they have already shown they cannot manage well. The hidden tax of inflation is devastating the savings of all Americans who use the dollar as a store of value. Yet the government continues to borrow and print to sustain its growing size.
States that have proposed and passed laws to protect the financial freedoms of their citizens recognize these problems and are acting accordingly. They are offering a way for the market to escape a financial system that is no longer private, stable and free.
Even if progress is made on monetary policy at the federal level, this will not alleviate the need for states to act. States that do not yet have these protections in place must continue to push for these policies at the local level.
States should build on the national momentum for sound monetary policy and work to defend the financial sovereignty of their constituents. Idaho is an ideal candidate for such policies. After all, the state's two neighbors to the east have already implemented some of them.
Idaho should catch up with its peers by running its own sound monetary policy diaryThis starts with recognizing that a CBDC is not money and prohibiting state cooperation with the Federal Reserve’s implementation of the system. It should also uphold the right to mine, own, and transact digital assets. This will allow Idahoans to defend their financial freedoms by opting out of a system set up to control and regulate their finances.
Of course, Idaho isn't the only state that could benefit from these policies. Now is the time for state legislatures to take advantage of this national momentum and consider how they can protect the finances of their constituents. Otherwise, they may find that the country has left them behind on an issue where states are leading the way.
This is a guest post by Niklas Kleinworth. The views expressed are solely his own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
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