Florida moved closer to becoming the latest U.S. state to enact stablecoin rules at the local level, following the State Senate’s passage of Senate Bill 314 on Friday.
A spokesperson for DeSantis told Decrypt that the governor has not yet received the bill from the legislature. “Once delivered to his office, he will review it in its final form,” she added.
The measure, which passed unanimously on Friday, folds stablecoins into the Sunshine State’s existing regulations by explicitly defining them as a form of “monetary value” under the Florida Control of Money Laundering in Money Services Business Act.
The legislation meanwhile authorizes the Florida Department of Financial Services to accept approved stablecoins for payments, such as state-issued licenses and taxes, alongside a pilot program to study how the government could utilize stablecoins itself.
“It’s important that we do this today,” she said, noting that the bill would allow Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation to become the primary regulator of payment systems using stablecoins.
In many ways, Florida’s framework for stablecoins mirrors rules pertaining to traditional transactions. That includes requiring so-called money services businesses to maintain records of stablecoin transactions valued at more than $10,000, which is already the case for other digital assets defined as “virtual currencies.”
