Jacob Ogles
Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis wants gold and silver as legal tender in the state of Florida.
The Cabinet member, as he runs for Congress, launched a study on how precious metals could be used as currency for goods and services.
“This is an exciting initiative that has the potential for enormous growth in our state,” Patronis said.
“Gold and silver have been trusted assets for thousands of years, and it makes perfect sense to use them as legal tender. I’m launching this study to determine the best way to get it done. I’ve also included in the framework of the study that gold and silver cannot be taxed as property for the purposes of using them as money.
The Department of Financial Services will manage the study, which will focus specifically on how gold and silver bullions, bars, ingots and coins can be recognized within the state.
Patronis suggested gold and silver could serve as an alternative to cash and Federal Reserve notes. He said that could combat inflation because precious metals continue to increase in value at times when the dollar loses value.
“Families and businesses don’t need higher taxes,” Patronis said. “They need innovative solutions to help them grow. This proposal not only does that, but it would also result in protections against monetary failures and abuses, like the (Joe) Biden-(Kamala) Harris inflation nightmare and attacks on Floridians’ financial freedoms.”
Patronis has notably pushed for years for Florida to increase cryptocurrency transparency in Florida. He also supported a ban on central bank digital currencies in Florida.
Conservatives, particularly libertarian-leaning ones, have long pushed for greater reliance on a gold standard in preference to fiat currency regulated by the Federal Reserve.
Patronis announced the push for use of gold and silver as he runs to succeed former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz in Congress. Patronis is one of 10 Republicans running in a Jan. 28 Primary ahead of an April 1 Special General Election.
