Forget Disney World – DeSantis Pushes For CryptoWorld In Florida

Florida has long been known for retirees and vacation-goers but lately has become a new type of theme park--One for digital currencies and not mouse ears. Miami Heat's basketball stadium was rebranded as FTX arena, the cryptocurrency exchange run by Sam Bankman-Fried (One of the guys on our rich list).

Florida is known for having no state income tax as well as well as being a hideout for the one and only "Florida Man". Perhaps crypto would fit in with the light-handed approach of the state government?

“Our view as the state government is this is something that we welcome and we want to make sure that the state government is crypto-friendly,” DeSantis said in an interview.

A politician who may be on deck for a presidential run is openly making positive statements about crypto? We're listening Ron...

If you're like most people, the idea of a trip to the DMV brings on a sense of dread and impatience. DeSantis mentioned the idea of exploring blockchain technology for the use at the Department of Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

Does this mean instead of getting an actual license, the lady behind the counter will simply mint us a shiny new NFT? Eh, probably not before the midterms anyway..

"Sorry officer, my license and registration is actually on the blockchain, let me just sort through all of my Axie Infinity and Snoop Dogg NFT's and get that for you".

The other proposed used case is for Medicaid. DeSantis didn't get into specifics, but he thinks there may be a play for Medicaid related payments to utilize the blockchain.

Again, we don't talk politics, but I have to say that we should resent any party affiliate that comes with being pro-crypto like this tweets infers. Crypto is for the people -- all of them -- period.

Florida isn't actually the first state to take steps towards incorporating cryptocurrency into our government. Wyoming lawmakers have been pushing for awhile and this week Puerto Rico house speaker Rafael "Tatito" Hernandez said he would begin to meet with blockchain leaders about using blockchain to add transparency and accountability to the public sector (keep talking like this Puerto Rico and we will invite you to state's dinner!).

Transparency is a hot topic right now, with some top officials allegedly being able to legally insider trade, many people want transparency and openness from government officials as we wrote here.

In 2018, Ohio was actually the first state to allow taxpayers to make payments in digital assets.

So there's more to Ohio and Wyoming than just corn fields and planes flying by? Who knew. (Kidding! C'mon we gave Florida the "Florida Man" treatment too..)

If you've ever sat down with your grandparents and tried to explain NFT's or the Metaverse you'll know that the older generation can have a hard time wrapping their head around cryptocurrencies. You mix that with crypto and you get things like this:

According to Myfloridacfo.com, Florida's official resource for information on cryptocurrency, it reads "Units of cryptocurrency are often referred to as “cryptocoin”. Yeah, I've never heard anyone refer to buying a 'cryptocoin' either.

And this:

A couple of weeks ago at a congressional hearing, Brad Sherman pumped Hamstercoin to the moon by saying it could replace Doge. Social media roared with laughter and mockery as Hamstercoin and the newly-minted Mongoose coin flew to the moon.

The first step to regulating something is to actually understand it. We might be able to make some progress towards cryptocurrency if our grandparents in congress could stay awake long enough to listen, but congress and progress frequently are antonyms so don't hold your breath (both sides of course :P)

Cryptocurrency and blockchain was designed with transparency in mind. I believe that Cryptocurrency has the ability to solve many of the world's supply chain problems and greatly reduce corruption through blockchains' unique ability to provide accountability.

Do you think DeSantis is onto something?