S163 prohibits state and local governments from accepting or requiring payment in a central bank digital currency (CBDC) or participating in CBDC testing, while allowing individuals and businesses to use other digital currencies. It ensures digital assets such as cryptocurrency and NFTs are taxed and regulated the same as cash transactions, sets requirements for digital asset mining to avoid overloading the power grid, exempts certain mining and staking services from securities laws, and empowers the attorney general to prosecute fraud related to digital asset services.
The South Carolina State Senate passed S163 on May 1, 2025 by a vote of 38 to 1. We have assigned pluses to the ayes because Article I, Sections 8 and 10 of the U.S. Constitution grant Congress—not unelected bureaucrats or central banks—the sole authority to coin money and regulate its value. Central bank digital currencies threaten to give government unprecedented power to track, monitor, and even control every transaction, paving the way for mass surveillance and political coercion through financial deplatforming or asset freezes. Instead of embracing programmable money, states should work to restore sound money—such as gold and silver—and protect the financial privacy and economic liberty of their citizens.
