Proposal would accept cryptocurrency for state fees

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis is using his budget proposal to state legislators to try to make Florida more friendly to cryptocurrency, a form of digital currency growing in popularity worldwide.

DeSantis’ $99.7 billion plan released Thursday includes $700,000 for cryptocurrency projects at the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, the Agency for Health Care

Administration and the Department of Financial Services.

“We’re going to have a program to allow Florida businesses to pay state fees in cryptocurrency,” DeSantis told reporters at the Capitol. “I think you’ve seen in South Florida, it’s been a huge thing. A lot of people have flocked to South Florida over this issue. And so, our view as the state government, this is something that we welcome. And we want to make sure that the state government is crypto-friendly.”

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has been a leading proponent of cryptocurrency, backing the launch of MiamiCoin, which are programmable city-based tokens, through CityCoins based on Bitcoin technology. Also this year, American Airlines Arena in Miami was rebranded FTX after the naming rights to the arena were acquired by the cryptocurrency exchange.

Under DeSantis’ proposal for the 2022 legislative session, $250,000 would go to set up a pilot program where people could pay motor-vehicle title certificates through Blockchain technology at the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

Also, $250,000 would go to the Agency for Health Care for a separate pilot project that uses Blockchain technology to authenticate Medicaid transactions and identify potential Medicaid fraud.

The Department of Financial Services would get $200,000 to implement a payment service so businesses could pay fees for incorporation with cryptocurrency to the Department of State.

Digital money is especially popular among some investors, but it has its detractors in part because of how widely values can fluctuate and concerns about hacking.

DeSantis’ budget proposals will be considered by the Legislature when it convenes in January. Lawmakers have the final responsibility to adopt the budget, and DeSantis has line-veto power over provisions within it.