Governor Noem vetoed House Bill 1193, which would infringe upon Freedom in digital currency

Rapid City, S.D. – Governor Noem released the following statement:

“HB 1193 adopts a definition of ‘money’ to specifically exclude cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, as well as other digital assets.

At the same time, these UCC revisions include Central Bank Digital Currencies as money.

By expressly excluding cryptocurrencies as money, it would become more difficult to use cryptocurrency.

By needlessly limiting this freedom, HB 1193 would put South Dakota citizens at a business disadvantage.

By defining ‘money’ in this proposed way, HB 1193 opens the door to the risk that the federal government could easily adopt a Central Bank Digital Currency, which then may become the only viable digital currency. 

At this moment in time, such a government-backed electronic currency has not been created. It would be imprudent to create regulations governing something that does not yet exist. More importantly, South Dakota should not open the door to a potential future overreach by the federal government.”