Florida governor's budget proposal wants to let residents pay fees in crypto

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has officially proposed the state government to allow businesses to pay state fees with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC).

The Republican governor announced the idea as part of his 2022–2023 budget proposal, released on Dec. 9.

According to the official budget highlights, DeSantis proposed to provide $200,000 to the Department of Financial Services to offer Florida corporations the ability to “pay state fees via cryptocurrency directly to the Department of State.”

“Florida encourages cryptocurrency as a means of commerce and furthering Florida’s attractiveness to businesses and economic growth,” the document reads.

DeSantis additionally proposed allocating another $500,000 to explore the potential of blockchain technology to maintain motor vehicle records as well as authenticate Medicaid transactions and detect potential fraud.

The overall $700,000 proposal is dedicated to enable a crypto-friendly Florida, the budget proposal reads.

Florida has been steadily emerging as a major cryptocurrency-friendly jurisdiction in the United States as one of its major cities, Miami, is being actively promoted as the “world's Bitcoin and crypto capital.”

Related: ​​Navigating CityCoins: Miami citizens to earn Bitcoin despite the city not holding crypto

Last month, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez announced that he aimed to be the first U.S. lawmaker to accept part of his paycheck in Bitcoin. The official reportedly owns both BTC and Ether (ETH).

In September, Miami’s city commissioners voted to accept funds generated by the new MiamiCoin cryptocurrency, which was launched by the smart contracts protocol CityCoins in August. Having generated more than $21 million in yields as of mid-November, MiamiCoin will be available to all Miami residents in the form of a Bitcoin dividend, according to the city mayor.