Arizona state senator Wendy Rogers has introduced a bill seeking to make Bitcoin legal tender in her state.
The sunny state of Arizona, located in the western United States, could be the next to make Bitcoin its legal tender, if the bill presented by Senator Wendy Rogers to the legislators of said state is approved. Although the proposal may not yet get the approval of the legislators and the Congress of the United States, the initiative follows the reaction that El Salvador has provoked in almost the entire world, as the first country to declare Bitcoin its legal tender and the important role that this cryptocurrency is playing as a form of money and alternative investment asset on a global level.
Senator Rogers, a member of the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Study Committee and a known Bitcoin enthusiast, noted in September 2021 that she would make Arizona a blockchain-friendly state. cryptocurrencies, , as is happening in Miami, Texas, Wyoming, Colorado and New York.
The state of Arizona has significant solar and nuclear power plants that could make the state a favorable destination for cryptocurrency mining.
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Arizona wants to adopt Bitcoin
The bill introduced by the US senator from the state of Arizona comes at a decisive and highly important moment for the crypto industry in the United States, which has become a leader in cryptocurrency mining. Bitcoin (BTC) worldwide and every day sees more rulers and politicians joining the cryptoasset revolution.
Francis Suárez, mayor of Miami, Eric adams, Mayor of New York, Cynthia lummis, senator from the state of Wyoming, Jared Polis, Governor of the State of Colorado, are some of the most prominent American politicians within the crypto industry today.
Legal Tender and the U.S. Constitution
Although the proposal presented by Rogers represents a major step forward for cryptocurrencies, demonstrating how much technological and financial innovation in cryptoassets has permeated society and governments, its approval in the country is unlikely, according to several experts on the subject.
Preston Byrne, a partner at the law firm Anderson Kill, told Block Works that under the “Coinage Clause of the Constitution” the power to determine what is and what is not legal tender in the United States is the exclusive jurisdiction of the country’s Congress and not of regional regulators. In addition to this, he pointed out that the US Constitution does not allow states or cities to create their own legal tender.
Cryptocurrency regulation in the United States
In the United States, regulators have said they will not ban cryptocurrencies as China has done. However, it should not be forgotten that they are preparing to strengthen regulation of this industry in order to ensure the safety of investors and their monetary and financial stability.
Recently, a source close to the White House revealed Barron's reported that the US government is preparing to regulate cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin through an executive order; the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking for the way to exercise greater regulation over the industry, including decentralized finance within its jurisdiction through a modification to the definition of “stock exchange” and the Federal Reserve (FED) waiting publish its new monetary policies in the coming weeks.
On the other hand, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has criticized and warned El Salvador about its adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender, urging the country to eliminate the Bitcoin Law that came into effect last September, to guarantee its financial stability.
With the legal adoption of Bitcoin, El Salvador has encouraged several countries, especially in Latin America, to move forward in the regulation of cryptocurrencies and to think of Bitcoin as an alternative digital asset with which they can boost their growth, development and innovation.
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