North Carolina Governor Vetoes Bill to Ban Central Bank Digital Currency Despite Near-Unanimous Lawmaker Support

Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina has vetoed a bill that would prohibit the state from implementing a digital currency issued by the Federal Reserve's central bank

Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina has vetoed a bill that would prohibit the state from implementing a digital currency issued by the Federal Reserve’s central bank, despite the fact that the bill received nearly unanimous support in both the House and Senate.

The bill, House Bill 690, was vetoed by Cooper on June 5. The veto came after the bill passed the House by a vote of 109-4 and the Senate by a vote of 39-5 in late May.

In his veto message, Cooper said that the bill was “premature, confusing, and reactionary” and that North Carolina should delay taking action until the federal government has implemented standards and safeguards to protect consumers, investors, and businesses that use digital assets.

“This bill would prematurely ban the state from accepting a digital currency issued by the Federal Reserve’s central bank,” Cooper wrote in his veto message. “The federal government is still exploring the possibility of issuing a central bank digital currency, and it has not yet made a decision.

“If the federal government does decide to issue a central bank digital currency, North Carolina should delay taking action until the federal government has implemented standards and safeguards to protect consumers, investors, and businesses that use digital assets.”

A three-fifths majority in both chambers of the North Carolina legislature could easily override Cooper’s veto, given the nearly unanimous votes.

However, Mitchell Askew, the lead analyst at Blockware Solutions and a native of North Carolina, told Cointelegraph that the veto from Governor Cooper was not indicative of the desires of North Carolinians.

Askew expressed his disappointment that Cooper was “unwilling to set aside partisan politics” in order to endorse a law that would be advantageous to all North Carolina residents.

“He vetoed the bill solely because his opponent, Mark Robinson, is in favor of it,” Askew said. “The candidate who is pro-freedom and pro-Bitcoin is evident in this instance.”

Similarly, Dan Spuller, who heads up industry affairs at the Blockchain Association, told Axios that Cooper’s veto was a missed opportunity to make it clear that North Carolina is strongly against a CBDC.

“The legislature overwhelmingly passed this bill because they heard loud and clear from their constituents that they want North Carolina to be a pro-innovation state that welcomes Web3 technologies,” Spuller said.

“Governor Cooper had an opportunity to join them in advancing the state’s economy, but instead he chose to ignore the will of the people and the legislature.”

At a March meeting of the Senate Banking Committee, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that the U.S. was “nowhere near suggesting or let alone implementing a central bank digital currency in any form.”

“We are looking at it, we are experimenting with it, and we are trying to learn as much as we can,” Powell said at the time. “But I would say we are certainly not close to making a decision on whether to issue one.”

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