North Carolina Senate Passes Anti-CBDC Bill, Voiding Governor’s Veto

North Carolina Senate has passed a bill that bans the state from participating in a Federal Reserve CBDC pilot.

On Monday, September 9, the state General Assembly approved House Bill 690 via a 27-17 vote. The Senate vote exceeded the 60% majority required to nullify Governor Roy Cooper's veto and pass the bill into law.

This move follows a 73-41 vote by the North Carolina House of Reps to overturn Gov. Cooper's veto in early August.

North Carolina Law Makers Passes Bill to Ban CBDC from the State

House Bill 690 prohibits North Carolina from participating in any central bank digital currency (CDBC) pilot. It also forbids the state from accepting CBCDs as a medium of payment.

In late June, the legislation received almost unanimous support from North Carolina lawmakers, with a 109-4 vote in the House of Reps and a 39-4 vote in the Senate.

However, the state governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, did not support the bill, describing it as too premature, reactionary, and vague to sign into law. He said safety measures were underway to protect consumers and businesses who may want to use CBDCs for money transactions.

Gov. Cooper vetoed the bill on July 5, attracting intense criticism from those who believed his decision was politically motivated.

Disappointed to report that @RoyCooperNC vetoed the widely supported, bipartisan HB 690, which passed unanimously in the NC House last summer and decisively in the NC Senate last week. By vetoing this bill, @NC_Governor missed an opportunity to send a clear message to the... https://t.co/cuA1jcUrNx pic.twitter.com/AAk6ZmoKbV

- Dan Spuller (@DanSpuller) July 5, 2024

The Senate's latest veto-nulling vote closely mirrored the June vote by both state houses, with 12 Democrats who previously supported the bill switching stances to support the governor's veto. This time, not even one Democrat senator voted in favor of House Bill 690.

This development sparked reactions among prominent crypto industry players. In an X post, Head of industry affairs at Blockchain Association, Dan Spuller said the governor should not have vetoed the bill.

North Carolina's State Senate has officially overridden @RoyCooperNC's veto of the widely popular Anti-#CBDC Bill (HB690), championed by @BradOvercash. Earlier this summer, @NCHouseSpeaker also overrode the veto on the House side, making HB690 officially law.

This bill should... pic.twitter.com/xRplzFnwxW

- Dan Spuller (@DanSpuller) September 9, 2024

According to Spuller, the veto effectively robbed the Federal Reserve of the opportunity to inform it that North Carolina is united against CBDCs.

Also, Mitchell Askew, head analyst at Blockware Solutions, said it's incredible to see CBDCs officially banned in North Carolina. However, he wasn't happy about the Senate vote.

According to Askew, the Democrat senators' switching stance to support the veto confirms his original hypothesis that it was a product of Cooper's partisan politics.

CBDCs Coming to the United States Soon?

The US Federal Reserve has been considering implementing CBDCs in the country. The central bank released a report detailing the pros and cons of issuing one.

However, many have rebelled against issuing a CBDC, citing privacy rights infringement and financial censorship concerns.

The Fed chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank would not issue a CBDC without approval from Congress. He also said if the Fed were to adopt a CBDC, it would do so through the banking system.

In a July 31 statement, Powell said there was no new development with issuing a CBDC in the United States.

During a March 7 hearing with the Senate Banking Committee, Powell also said the US was nowhere near endorsing,let alone adopting, a CBDC.

However, despite the reassuring statements from the Feds, the US House of Reps passed an anti-CBCD bill in May. The Republican-led bill tagged CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act aims to block the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC in the US.

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