Florida governor announces plans to accept crypto in tax payments

The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, is adopting the use of Bitcoin (BTC/USD) in the state. The governor is also primed to be the next presidential candidate for the 2024 US presidential elections under a Republican ticket. 

Florida to accept taxes in Bitcoin

DeSantis was speaking at an event on Monday where he said that the state of Florida was working on accepting Bitcoin for payments. The governor noted that he had instructed state agencies to “figure out ways where if a business wants to pay tax in cryptocurrency to Florida, we should be willing to accept that.”

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The crypto regulatory framework in Florida is friendly. The largest city in the state, Miami, launched the MiamiCoin last year. The mayor of this city, Francis Suarez, is also accepting part of his pay in Bitcoin. Currently, Miami is looking into ways to allow the payment of city employees in Bitcoin.

Given the high traffic of crypto businesses flocking to Miami, the state needs to start accepting crypto taxes.

Orlando’s Seminole County Tax Office started accepting crypto payments in 2018 after a partnership with BitPay. However, this move was not a success, but it triggered controversy after discovering that county funds were being used to create a private blockchain company.

States competing for crypto adoption

The state of Florida has shown friendliness towards crypto investments, but it is yet to make major strides as other jurisdictions. The states of Wyoming and Colorado are currently leading in promoting friendly crypto regulations.

In 2019, Wyoming approved several blockchain-friendly laws that are now starting to favour the growth of crypto businesses in the state. Crypto custodial firms in the US have also received state banking charters to operate in the state.

In Colorado, the governor is pro-crypto. The state governor, Jared Polis, noted that the state would allow residents to pay taxes in cryptocurrencies by the end of the year. He noted that the state would also offer crypto payment alternatives in other state fees. However, the state would not hold any of the money collected in crypto, but it would later convert the assets into USD.