CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Mar. 3, 2025) – Last week, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon signed a bill into law that takes a very small step toward limiting central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the state.
Rep. Daniel Singh filed House Bill 264 (HB264). The law prohibits any state agency from requiring payment in the form of CBDC for the payment of taxes or fees. It would also prohibit any state agency from using any public funds “to assist in any manner in the testing, adoption or implementation of a central bank digital currency.”
On Feb. 21, the Senate passed HB264 by a 29-2 vote and the House concurred with Senate amendment by a 49-3 vote. With Gordon’s signature, the new law goes into immediate effect.
A VERY SMALL STEP
It’s important to note that this is a very small step and it was possible for the state to take much more significant actions to block the implementation of a CBDC, as a number of other states have already done.
Arkansas enacted took a stronger step this year, joining Indiana, Florida, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Utah that passed similar bills last year.
Prohibiting state and local governments from accepting CBDC payments would throw up one roadblock to its implementation by limiting its use in the state. It would also signal to people in the state that a CBDC is to be avoided. But HB264 only prohibits state agencies from requiring payment in CBDC.
The original bill would have also barred state agencies from even accepting CBDC as payment, but this language was removed by an amendment in the Senate Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee. While the law will take small steps to protect Wyoming residents from being forced to use central bank digital currency when doing business with the state, it will do little, if anything, to block federal implementation of a CBDC.
As passed, the law will not stop the state from accepting CBDC.
IN PRACTICE
In the spirit of James Madison’s blueprint for how states and individuals can stop federal programs, the enactment of HB264 would create minor “impediments” to the implementation of a CBDC in Wyoming. Madison said “a refusal to cooperate with officers of the union” along with “the embarrassments created by legislative devices,” would “oppose, in any State, difficulties not to be despised.”
It remains unclear how state efforts to hinder a CBDC would play out in practice, should the federal government attempt to implement one.
Opponents of the strategy and supporters of CBDC generally take the position that states can’t do anything to stop a CBDC, since – according to their view – under the supremacy clause “any federal law on this point will automatically override state law.”
We’ve heard this song and dance on other issues before. That’s what they said before California legalized medical marijuana in 1996. It didn’t quite turn out that way.
“Roadblock” is likely how this and other state-based strategies to oppose a CBDC will play out.
But whether these roadblocks will have any impact or not requires more than just mere state legislation. As can be seen so far with issues, whether a federal program is implemented or not ultimately gets down to the willingness of the people to participate, or not.
CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCIES (CBDC)
The difference between a central bank (government) digital currency and peer-to-peer electronic cash such as Bitcoin is that the value of the former is created, backed, and controlled by the government, just like traditional fiat currency.
In fact, CBDC is nothing more than the digital offspring of paper fiat money with all the negative characteristics that come with it.
At the root of the move toward government digital currency is “the war on cash.” The elimination of cash creates the potential for the government to track every transaction you make. Officials could even “turn off” an individual’s ability to make purchases.
Economist Thorsten Polleit outlined the potential for Big Brother-like government control with the advent of a digital euro in an article published by the Mises Wire. As he put it, “the path to becoming a surveillance state regime will accelerate considerably” if and when a central bank digital currency is issued.
In 2022, the Federal Reserve released a “discussion paper” examining the pros and cons of a potential US central bank digital dollar. According to the central bank’s website, there has been no decision on implementing a digital currency, but this pilot program reveals the idea is further along than most people realized.
While President Trump has promised not to implement a CBDC, it’s important to remember he won’t hold office forever and we can’t count on the goodwill of politicians to protect our liberty. States need to take steps against a CBDC now instead of scrambling after the fact if things move forward in the future.
As Thomas Jefferson advised, “It is better to keep the wolf out of the fold, than to trust to drawing his teeth and talons after he shall have entered.”
