\n
![](\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/.image\/c_fit%2Ch_800%2Cw_1200\/MjA4MDQyMTE5OTE3NDc5MzY1\/default_the_white_house_1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
Conservatives vowed to bring sound money policy to Washington in 2025, but the battle for your financial freedom is closer to home than you would expect. States pioneered this effort, and should capitalize on this national momentum to defend American financial liberties locally.<\/p>\n
This month, the Republican National Committee released<\/a> a draft proposal for changes to the party platform that would assert the party\u2019s stance against a central bank digital currency \u2014 also known as a CBDC or digital dollar \u2014 and in support of the right to mine<\/a>, own, and privately transact in digital assets like Bitcoin.<\/p>\n Sound monetary policy has been a growing focus of the 2024 election as Republican candidates<\/a> like Former President Trump and Vivek Ramaswami publicly<\/a> supported digital assets \u2014 specifically Bitcoin \u2014 while denouncing the implementation of a CBDC. Even the independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. holds<\/a> a similar stance on these issues.<\/p>\n As fresh as these issues may seem at the national level, states have been in discussions over sound money for some time. The Idaho Republican party was the first<\/a> to add pro-digital asset, anti-CBDC language to a major state party platform. The Gem State also considered two bills during the 2024 legislative session that would have fulfilled that pillar of the platform, but ultimately failed<\/a> by close votes in the House and Senate.<\/p>\n Though Idaho still faces roadblocks, other states have successfully enacted sound money policy in recent years. Florida passed legislation to ban<\/a> CBDCs. North Carolina and Arizona considered similar legislation that ultimately failed. Meanwhile, Wyoming, Montana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana passed<\/a> legislation to defend fundamental rights on digital assets.<\/p>\n These policies come as states attempt to stem the threats to Americans\u2019 liberties posed by private banks and the federal bureaucracy.<\/p>\n Financial institutions are the new scene of the Left\u2019s cultural warfare. Many banks are ending their business with certain religious organizations<\/a>, firearms manufacturers<\/a>, or non-green<\/a> industries. This can be crippling in a modern, mostly digital economy and threatens agriculture, mining, and energy \u2014 some of the leading industries in Idaho\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n Privacy is also a chief concern for many Americans. The federal government weaponizes its power over the banking system to search<\/a> citizens\u2019 transaction histories without a warrant despite this infringing on the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.<\/p>\n Worse yet, bureaucracies in Washington, D.C. \u2014 being dissatisfied with their existing degree of outsized control \u2014 want to monitor and control every American\u2019s financial transactions through a CBDC. This new, digital dollar, could offer unparalleled control<\/a> through programmable issuance, use, and taxation.<\/p>\n It\u2019s worrisome that bureaucrats want even more control over a financial system they already proved they cannot manage well. The hidden tax of inflation is devastating the savings of all Americans who use the dollar as a store of value. Yet, the government continues to borrow and print to sustain its ever-increasing size.<\/p>\n States that have proposed and passed legislation to protect the financial liberties of their constituents recognize these problems and are acting accordingly. They are providing a way for the market to escape from a financial system that is no longer private, stable, and free.<\/p>\n Even if sound money policy advances at the federal level, this would not relieve the need for states to act. States that do not yet have these protections must continue to advance these policies locally.<\/p>\n States should take advantage of the national momentum for sound money policy and work to defend the financial sovereignty of their constituents. Idaho is a prime candidate for these policies. After all, both of the Gem State\u2019s neighbors to the east already enacted some of these policies.<\/p>\n