Texas Congressman, USA: Gold-backed tokens may play a key role in promoting the adoption of cryptocurrencies

According to Cointelegraph, a Texas legislator believes that the state's proposed gold-backed digital currency can play a key role in promoting the popularization of cryptocurrencies. Republican Representative Cody Harris of the Texas House spoke about the development of Texas' gold-backed tokens at the North American Blockchain Summit on November 21st. In a fireside chat with David Duong from Coinbase, Harris believed that state-issued gold-backed tokens could serve as a gateway for Texans to explore digital assets like Bitcoin.

In April 2023, two legislators in Texas each proposed two bills aimed at creating a state-issued digital currency backed by gold. According to this plan, each unit of digital currency would represent a specific fraction of an ounce of gold held in trust. Harris stated that this initiative could help skeptics accept cryptocurrencies more by providing government-issued digital alternatives and then transitioning to decentralized assets such as Bitcoin; for those who are very reluctant to own Bitcoin or explore cryptocurrencies, compared with government-issued tokens, they might feel "reassured" by tokens issued by startups. Although he encourages the project of Texas' gold-backed digital currency, Harris opposes Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).