Florida’s CFO, his opponent Ring debate cryptocurrency Patronis says he will hire a state regulator

Cryptocurrency became a campaign issue Tuesday in the race for state chief financial officer, one that pits the incumbent Jimmy Patronis with an Internet pioneer.

Patronis said Tuesday he intends to hire a state regulator who would focus on oversight of the technology.

Cryptocurrencies operate independently of a central bank, using digital encryption to create units of currency that customers can purchase individually or in groups.

His opponent in the Nov. 6 election, former state Sen. Jeremy Ring, said it’s a “hollow” idea that reeks of a “campaign stunt.”

Ring, one of the first employees at Yahoo!, says the federal government should govern cryptocurrency, not a state financial agency.

Patronis, 46, who was appointed Chief Financial Officer by Gov. Rick Scott in June 2017, has mentioned the digital currency repeatedly during the past several months.

The value of such currencies fluctuates, similar to how a company’s stock can rise and fall on a minute-by-minute basis on marketplaces like the Dow Jones Industrial Average. In recent years, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have been extremely volatile.

The person appointed to Patronis’ as-yet-unnamed position would explore how laws that govern securities and insurance apply to cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings, or ICOs.

ICOs occur when units of virtual currencies are made available to investors.

“We cannot allow the cryptocurrency industry to expand in Florida unfettered and unchecked with the potential for so many, including our large population of seniors, to be exploited,” Patronis said in a statement. “By taking an active, comprehensive and balanced approach, our state will provide an appropriate level of scrutiny for emerging digital asset technologies.”

But Patronis’ effort did not impress Ring.

“If you understand the technical aspects of cryptocurrency, it needs to be something that the federal government wraps their arms around,” he said. “I don’t think they understand the crypto world.”

Ring, 47, also said that any Florida effort to regulate cryptocurrency should be led by the attorney general rather than the CFO.

“The crash that is occurring now is a lot like the crash that happened to the early Internet companies,” he said. “But, ultimately, what came out of it was good companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon.”

Attempts to reach Patronis for comment were not successful.

Patronis’ statement did not indicate when the position would be created or how it would be filled.