The North Carolina General Assembly has officially banned the use of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in the state, overriding a veto from Governor Roy Cooper. The Republican-led Senate passed House Bill 690 on September 9 with a 27–17 vote, barely achieving the 60% majority needed to overturn the veto from Cooper, a Democrat.
Earlier, the North Carolina House of Representatives had also voted to overturn the governor’s veto, with a 73–41 vote in early August. The new law prohibits North Carolina from accepting CBDCs as a form of payment and participating in any future CBDC tests by the Federal Reserve.
Governor Cooper’s initial veto came on July 5 after overwhelming support for the bill in both the House and Senate in June. However, in the latest Senate vote, 12 Democrats changed their stance, backing the governor’s veto. Not a single Senate Democrat supported the bill this time.
Mitchell Askew, head analyst at Blockware Solutions, expressed his disappointment over the outcome, describing the Democrats’ shift as “partisan politics.” He criticized the veto and the shift in votes, highlighting the political maneuvering behind the decision.
Meanwhile, Dan Spuller from the Blockchain Association argued that the veto squandered an opportunity to send a clear message against CBDCs to the Federal Reserve. Governor Cooper’s office has not yet commented on the bill’s passing.
While the Federal Reserve has researched CBDCs, its chair, Jerome Powell, recently indicated there were no immediate plans to adopt such a currency. Despite this, the US House of Representatives passed the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act in May, with a companion bill now in the Senate, led by Senator Ted Cruz.