US Senator’s Resolution Encourages Capitol Gift Shops to Accept Cryptocurrency

A U.S. lawmaker has introduced a resolution that encourages Capitol gift shops to accept cryptocurrency payments. He stressed that lawmakers “should increase accessibility and signal our support for the burgeoning cryptocurrency industry to those who visit Capitol Hill.”

US Senator Advocates Crypto Payments

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) announced Thursday that he has reintroduced the Adopting Cryptocurrency in Congress as an Exchange of Payment for Transactions (ACCEPT) Resolution. Cruz first introduced this resolution in November 2021. The senator from Texas said:

Cryptocurrency is generating new jobs, encouraging entrepreneurs to invent new values and creating new hedges against inflation, and presenting new opportunities. It is also increasingly being used as a secure form of payment for goods and services.

“This is precisely why we, here at the United States Capitol, should increase accessibility and signal our support for the burgeoning cryptocurrency industry to those who visit Capitol Hill,” he added.

Senator Cruz’ explained that his bill “would require the Architect of the Capitol, the Secretary of the Senate, and the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives to encourage Capitol gift shops to accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment.” They would also be required “to enter into contracts with vendors who accept cryptocurrency as payment for food service and in vending machines within the Capitol complex.”

Cruz further said:

An added advantage of using cryptocurrency as a form of payment in the Capitol is that it would provide foreign tourists who visit our nation’s capital each year with a safe and secure payment option without the need to pay unnecessary and often costly currency exchange fees.

The lawmaker has long been a pro-bitcoin senator. In May last year, he said he is “incredibly bullish” on bitcoin. “I have a weekly buy that’s an automatic buy every week of bitcoin because I believe in dollar-cost averaging,” he noted at the time.

Senator Cruz also introduced a bill in April last year to prohibit the Federal Reserve from developing a direct-to-consumer central bank digital currency (CBDC) “which could be used as a financial surveillance tool by the federal government, similar to what is currently happening in China,” Cruz noted.

What do you think about Senator Ted Cruz pushing for gift shops on Capitol Hill to accept payments in cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments section below.