A senator in the U.S. state of Arizona has introduced a set of cryptocurrency bills, one of which seeks to make bitcoin legal tender. “Centralized digital money controlled by the central bankers is slavery. Decentralized bitcoin is freedom,” the lawmaker said.
Arizona Lawmaker Wants to Make Bitcoin Legal Tender
Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers has introduced several crypto-related bills, including one to make bitcoin legal tender in her state.
“Launched my crypto bills today,” Rogers tweeted Tuesday. The bills are co-sponsored by her state senate Republican colleagues Jeff Weninger and J.D. Mesnard.
One of the bills proposes making bitcoin legal tender. The legislation defines the cryptocurrency as “the decentralized, peer-to-peer digital currency in which a record of transactions is maintained on the bitcoin blockchain and new units of currency are generated by the computational solution of mathematical problems and that operates independently of a central bank.”
Another bill proposes allowing state agencies to enter “into an agreement with a cryptocurrency issuer to provide a method to accept cryptocurrency as a payment method of fines, civil penalties or other penalties, rent, rates, taxes, fees, charges, revenue, financial obligations, and special assessments to pay any amount due to that agency or this state.”
Rogers introduced a similar bill to make bitcoin legal tender in Arizona last year but it was quickly shot down. She tweeted last April:
Centralized digital money controlled by the central bankers is slavery. Decentralized bitcoin is freedom.
In September 2021, El Salvador became the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar. Since then, the country, led by the pro-bitcoin president Nayib Bukele, has purchased thousands of BTC for its treasury. Last November, Bukele announced that El Salvador is buying bitcoin every day.
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