NC legislature approves CBDC restrictions with strong majority, bill sent to governor

Both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly have approved a bill that will bar the federal government from executing a central bank digital currency in the state of North Carolina. 

On Wednesday afternoon, the House concurred with the Senate on HB 690 in a 109-4 vote following the Senate’s 39-5 vote on Tuesday. It now heads to the governor’s desk.

The bill prohibits North Carolina from participating in the Federal Reserve branch’s testing of any future CBDC. In 2022, the Federal Reserve published a report on the US dollar in an age of digital transformation, which the government agency said was the first step in a public discussion between the Federal Reserve and stakeholders about central bank digital currencies.

SEE ALSO: NC Senate passes ban on Central Bank Digital Currency

Sen. Brad Overcash, R-Gaston, says the bill is intended to dissuade the federal government from proceeding with a plan that could threaten one of our great American assets: the dollar, which is the main global currency. Although he hoped it would be unanimous among both chambers, Overcash says North Carolina’s move sends a strong message to the federal government that the ninth-largest state in the nation is uninterested in a CBDC.

He also said the good news is that the CBDC would take congressional action, which means implementation remains questionable.

With a large majority of state legislators voting in favor of the bill, a possible veto from the governor could be readily overridden.

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