Arizona Senator Wendy Rogers has reintroduced a bill to recognize Bitcoin as a legal tender in the state and allow state agencies to accept the digital currency as a form of payment.
If passed, the bill would make Arizona the first state in the United States to recognize Bitcoin as a legal form of currency officially.
The bill has been co-sponsored by other Republican Party leaders from Arizona. In announcing the bill’s launch, the lawmaker cited a recent report by Goldman Sachs indicating that Bitcoin is the best-performing asset in 2023.
However, the bill’s passage is uncertain as the United States Constitution does not allow individual states to create their own legal tender.
The bill defines Bitcoin as a decentralized, peer-to-peer digital currency, that operates independently of a central bank.
This is the second time that the Senator has attempted to introduce such legislation in the state, with the first attempt made in January 2022.
The reintroduction of these bills highlights lawmakers’ growing interest in cryptocurrencies and comes at a time when there is renewed debate on the sector’s regulations.
