Wendy Rogers (R-AZ) has presented a package of measures that would make bitcoin legal tender in Arizona and empower state entities to accept it.
The proposed law seeks to recognize bitcoin as a legal form of money in Arizona, allowing its users to settle debts, taxes, and other financial responsibilities. This would imply that all transactions presently conducted in U.S. dollars could possibly be conducted in bitcoin, and people and corporations would have the choice to use bitcoin as they see right.
The legal tender law describes bitcoin as “the decentralized, peer-to-peer digital currency in which a record of transactions is stored on the Bitcoin blockchain and fresh units of currency are produced through the computational solution of mathematical problems.”
More broadly, the acceptance law states that “a state agency may engage into an arrangement with a cryptocurrency issuer to establish a means to accept cryptocurrencies as a payment method of fines, civil penalties or other penalties, rent, rates, taxes, fees, charges, income, financial responsibilities, and special assessments.”
This is the second time Senator Rogers has sponsored legislation to legalize bitcoin in her state. In January 2022, she submitted the same amendment, which died in the second reading.
Although it may seem that the law has little chance of passing this time, El Salvador’s use of bitcoin as legal cash has been a benefit for economic development and investment. Recent acts in states like as Texas, New Hampshire, Missouri, and Mississippi suggest a growing interest in bitcoin and its advantages among U.S. states. As bitcoin acceptance grows, the probability that such legislation will pass will only rise.
