- Governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem has rejected House Bill 1193 which proposed the amendment of the meaning of ‘money’ to exclude bitcoin but accept CBDCs
- Noem cited that the enforcement of this amendment would close off South Dakota from crypto-related business opportunities
- The rejection aligns with Club for Growth’s plea for the governor to veto the bill as it was an “assault” on free-market
Kristi Noem, governor of South Dakota, has officially vetoed a bill that will effect changes to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). House Bill 1193(HB 1193) explicitly proposed to redefine ‘money’ to exclude digital assets, including bitcoin.
The UCC is an extensive body of legislation that regulates every business transaction in the U.S. Despite not being a federal law. The UCC is generally enforced by most states.
In a letter to the house, Noem communicated her rejection of the bill, saying,
” HB 1193 adopts a definition of ‘money’ to expressly exclude cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, as well as other digital assets. At the same time, these UCC revisions include Central Bank Digital Currencies as money.”
She stated her concerns, including that excluding cryptocurrencies from the definition of money would make it difficult to transact in digital assets. As such, she fears that this would put the citizens of South Dakota at a business disadvantage.
In addition to that, she said that if the definition of money was amended according to the bill’s proposal, the potential that the federal government may quickly adopt a Central Bank Digital Currency(CBDC), which might then become the sole viable digital currency, is made possible. She added:
” Such a government-backed electronic currency has not been created at this time. Creating regulations governing something that still needs to be created would be imprudent. More importantly, South Dakota should not open the door to a potential future overreach by the federal government.”
Noem also cited that the first amendment of the UCC took 20 years to be adopted by all states. Hence, she said that South Dakota’s condition would not be pushed into accepting HB 1193 by an alleged deadline.
Club for Growth’s Request Granted
Before rejecting this bill, David McIntosh, President of Club for Growth, a leading conservative organization, wrote a letter to Noem asking her to veto the bill.
“HB 1193 is an assault on the free-market, American innovation and ingenuity, individual liberty, and U.S. national security, and it should be vetoed,” said McIntosh in the letter.
He stated that since the invention of the internet, Bitcoin and other digital assets had been the most transformative technology, with the ability to boost the economy by trillions of dollars. He added that cryptocurrencies “are among the best hopes to protect our fundamental liberties to free speech, free association, the free exchange of ideas, and our national security, all of which are increasingly threatened by authoritarian governments and entities.”
Noem’s veto seems to have honored McIntosh’s request while enabling the governor to pursue her “open to business” approach to economic growth that has constantly emphasized personal freedom and accountability.
