On the 25th of January, Wendy Rogers, an Arizona State Senator, introduced a new bill to make Bitcoin legal tender in the state. Wendy Rogers, who is a Republican and enthusiastic supporter of former President Donald Trump, put forward a proposal to amend the definition of legal tender in The Grand Canyon State to include Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
This bill for making Bitcoin a legal tender is introduced as one of a bunch of changes suggested by the State Senator. These bunch of changes also include another bill for preventing local authorities from taxing the service of blockchain technology. Moreover, there is also another proposal for allowing state agencies to accept cryptocurrency as a payment method for rent, taxes, fines, or any other charges they need to collect.
It’s not the first time that Wendy tried to make Bitcoin legal tender, as she had tried this move previously also. Wendy is a self-professed member of the Oath Keepers, the far-right militia group. Almost a year ago, she introduced a similar bill, which was not adopted at that time by the state. Jeff Weninger and J.D. Mesnard, who are Republican colleagues of Wendy, co-sponsored the bills. And if all the members of her fellow party support the bill, then there is a lot of chance that the bill could pass without Democrat support because Republicans hold a minor majority in the state senate.
If this new bill proposed by Wendy passes, then Arizona will become the first US state to give Bitcoin the same legal status as the dollar or other currencies. Currently, there are only a few places in the world have taken the step to make cryptocurrency a legal tender. Among these places, El Salvador was the first country to take in 2021, followed by the Central African Republic last year. Last week, Brian Armstrong, the CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, suggested that Brazil and Argentina could consider using Bitcoin as a legal tender, which shows that different countries worldwide are trying to make Bitcoin a legal tender.
