DeSantis Fights Move Toward Converting Dollar to Central Digital Currency

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis answers questions from the media following his "State of the State" address during a joint session of the Florida Senate and House of Representatives at the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee, on March 7, 2023. Cheney Orr/AFP via Getty Images

PANAMA CITY, Fla.—Gov. Ron DeSantis denounced federal consideration of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) on March 20 and called for the state legislature to ban it in Florida and for other states to do the same.

DeSantis, who is expected to declare his candidacy for president, has used daily press conferences to showcase his management of the third-largest state, which he calls “the free state of Florida.”