Central bank digital currency; prohibit governmental entities from using.

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To: Banking and Financial
Services
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Blackwell

HOUSE BILL NO. 551

AN ACT TO PROHIBIT GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES FROM USING A CENTRAL 1
BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY; TO DEFINE THE TERMS "GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY", 2
"CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY" AND "PAYMENT STABLECOIN"; TO AMEND 3
SECTION 75-1-201, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT THE 4
TERM "MONEY" DOES NOT INCLUDE A CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY; AND 5
FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 6
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 7
SECTION 1. For purposes of this act, the following words and 8
phrases have the meanings as provided in this section unless the 9
context clearly indicates otherwise: 10
(a) "Governmental entity" means any agency, department, 11
institution, instrumentality, or political subdivision of the 12
State of Mississippi, or any agency, department, institution of a 13
political subdivision, or any entity that receives funding from 14
the State of Mississippi. 15
(b) "Central bank digital currency" means a digital 16
currency, a digital medium of exchange, payment stablecoin, or a 17
digital monetary unit of account issued by the United States 18
Federal Reserve System, a federal agency, a foreign government, a 19
foreign central bank, or a foreign reserve system, that is made 20
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directly available to a consumer by such entities. The term 21
includes a digital currency, a digital medium of exchange, or a 22
digital monetary unit of account issued by the United States 23
Federal Reserve System, a federal agency, a foreign government, a 24
foreign central bank, or a foreign reserve system, that is 25
processed or validated directly by such entities. 26
(c) "Payment stablecoin" means a digital asset that is, 27
or is designed to be, used as a means of payment or settlement, 28
and the issuer of which is obligated to convert, redeem, or 29
repurchase for a fixed amount of monetary value, not including a 30
digital asset denominated in a fixed amount of monetary value, and 31
represents that such issuer will maintain, or create the 32
reasonable expectation that it will maintain, a stable value 33
relative to the value of a fixed amount of monetary value. 34
The term "payment stablecoin" does not include a digital 35
asset that: 36
(i) Is a national currency; 37
(ii) Is a deposit (as defined in Section 3 of the 38
Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 USC Section 1813)), including a 39
deposit recorded using distributed ledger technology; or 40
(iii) Is a security, as defined in Section 2 of 41
the Securities Act of 1933 (15 USC Section 77b), Section 3 of the 42
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 USC Section 78c), or Section 2 43
of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 USC Section 80a–2), 44
except that, for the avoidance of doubt, no bond, note, evidence 45
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of indebtedness, or investment contract that was issued by a 46
permitted payment stablecoin issuer shall qualify as a security 47
solely by virtue of its satisfying the conditions described in 48
this subsection, consistent with Section 17 of the Guiding and 49
Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act or the 50
GENIUS Act (12 USC Section 5901). 51
SECTION 2. All governmental entities in the State of 52
Mississippi are prohibited from using a central bank digital 53
currency in receiving payment for services, remitting payment for 54
expenditures, and in carrying out other functions of such 55
governmental entities. 56
SECTION 3. Section 75-1-201, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 57
amended as follows: 58
75-1-201. (a) Unless the context otherwise requires, words 59
or phrases defined in this section, or in the additional 60
definitions contained in other articles of the Uniform Commercial 61
Code contained in other chapters of this title that apply to 62
particular chapters or parts thereof, have the meanings stated. 63
(b) Subject to definitions contained in other articles of 64
the Uniform Commercial Code that apply to particular articles or 65
parts thereof: 66
(1) "Action," in the sense of a judicial proceeding, 67
includes recoupment, counterclaim, setoff, suit in equity, and any 68
other proceeding in which rights are determined. 69
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(2) "Aggrieved party" means a party entitled to pursue 70
a remedy. 71
(3) "Agreement," as distinguished from "contract," 72
means the bargain of the parties in fact, as found in their 73
language or inferred from other circumstances, including course of 74
performance, course of dealing, or usage of trade as provided in 75
Section 75-1-303. 76
(4) "Bank" means a person engaged in the business of 77
banking and includes a savings bank, savings and loan association, 78
credit union, and trust company. 79
(5) "Bearer" means a person in possession of a 80
negotiable instrument, document of title, or certificated security 81
that is payable to bearer or indorsed in blank. 82
(6) "Bill of lading" means a document evidencing the 83
receipt of goods for shipment issued by a person engaged in the 84
business of transporting or forwarding goods. 85
(7) "Branch" includes a separately incorporated foreign 86
branch of a bank. 87
(8) "Burden of establishing a fact" means the burden of 88
persuading the trier of fact that the existence of the fact is 89
more probable than its nonexistence. 90
(9) "Buyer in ordinary course of business" means a 91
person that buys goods in good faith, without knowledge that the 92
sale violates the rights of another person in the goods, and in 93
the ordinary course from a person, other than a pawnbroker, in the 94
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business of selling goods of that kind. A person buys goods in 95
the ordinary course if the sale to the person comports with the 96
usual or customary practices in the kind of business in which the 97
seller is engaged or with the seller's own usual or customary 98
practices. A person that sells oil, gas, or other minerals at the 99
wellhead or minehead is a person in the business of selling goods 100
of that kind. A buyer in ordinary course of business may buy for 101
cash, by exchange of other property, or on secured or unsecured 102
credit, and may acquire goods or documents of title under a 103
preexisting contract for sale. Only a buyer that takes possession 104
of the goods or has a right to recover the goods from the seller 105
under Article 2 may be a buyer in ordinary course of business. 106
'Buyer in ordinary course of business' does not include a person 107
that acquires goods in a transfer in bulk or as security for or in 108
total or partial satisfaction of a money debt. 109
(10) "Conspicuous," with reference to a term, means so 110
written, displayed, or presented that a reasonable person against 111
which it is to operate ought to have noticed it. Whether a term 112
is "conspicuous" or not is a decision for the court. Conspicuous 113
terms include the following: 114
(A) A heading in capitals equal to or greater in 115
size than the surrounding text, or in contrasting type, font, or 116
color to the surrounding text of the same or lesser size; and 117
(B) Language in the body of a record or display in 118
larger type than the surrounding text, or in contrasting type, 119
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font, or color to the surrounding text of the same size, or set 120
off from surrounding text of the same size by symbols or other 121
marks that call attention to the language. 122
(11) "Consumer" means an individual who enters into a 123
transaction primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. 124
(12) "Contract," as distinguished from "agreement," 125
means the total legal obligation that results from the parties' 126
agreement as determined by the Uniform Commercial Code as 127
supplemented by any other applicable laws. 128
(13) "Creditor" includes a general creditor, a secured 129
creditor, a lien creditor, and any representative of creditors, 130
including an assignee for the benefit of creditors, a trustee in 131
bankruptcy, a receiver in equity, and an executor or administrator 132
of an insolvent debtor's or assignor's estate. 133
(14) "Defendant" includes a person in the position of 134
defendant in a counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party claim. 135
(15) "Delivery," with respect to an instrument, 136
document of title, or chattel paper, means voluntary transfer of 137
possession. 138
(16) "Document of title" includes bill of lading, dock 139
warrant, dock receipt, warehouse receipt or order for the delivery 140
of goods, and also any other document which in the regular course 141
of business or financing is treated as adequately evidencing that 142
the person in possession of it is entitled to receive, hold, and 143
dispose of the document and the goods it covers. To be a document 144
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of title, a document must purport to be issued by or addressed to 145
a bailee and purport to cover goods in the bailee's possession 146
which are either identified or are fungible portions of an 147
identified mass. 148
(17) "Fault" means a default, breach, or wrongful act 149
or omission. 150
(18) "Fungible goods" means: 151
(A) Goods of which any unit, by nature or usage of 152
trade, is the equivalent of any other like unit; or 153
(B) Goods that by agreement are treated as 154
equivalent. 155
(19) "Genuine" means free of forgery or counterfeiting. 156
(20) "Good faith," except as otherwise provided in 157
Article 5, means honesty in fact and the observance of reasonable 158
commercial standards of fair dealing. 159
(21) "Holder" means: 160
(A) The person in possession of a negotiable 161
instrument that is payable either to bearer or to an identified 162
person that is the person in possession; or 163
(B) The person in possession of a document of 164
title if the goods are deliverable either to bearer or to the 165
order of the person in possession. 166
(22) "Insolvency proceeding" includes an assignment for 167
the benefit of creditors or other proceeding intended to liquidate 168
or rehabilitate the estate of the person involved. 169
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(23) "Insolvent" means: 170
(A) Having generally ceased to pay debts in the 171
ordinary course of business other than as a result of bona fide 172
dispute; 173
(B) Being unable to pay debts as they become due; 174
or 175
(C) Being insolvent within the meaning of federal 176
bankruptcy law. 177
(24) "Money" means a medium of exchange currently 178
authorized or adopted by a domestic or foreign government. The 179
term includes a monetary unit of account established by an 180
intergovernmental organization or by agreement between two (2) or 181
more countries. The term "money" does not include a central bank 182
digital currency as defined in Section 1 of this act. 183
(25) "Organization" means a person other than an 184
individual. 185
(26) "Party," as distinguished from "third party," 186
means a person that has engaged in a transaction or made an 187
agreement subject to the Uniform Commercial Code. 188
(27) "Person" means an individual, corporation, 189
business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability 190
company, association, joint venture, government, governmental 191
subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, public corporation, or 192
any other legal or commercial entity. 193
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(28) "Present value" means the amount as of a date 194
certain of one or more sums payable in the future, discounted to 195
the date certain by use of either an interest rate specified by 196
the parties if that rate is not manifestly unreasonable at the 197
time the transaction is entered into or, if an interest rate is 198
not so specified, a commercially reasonable rate that takes into 199
account the facts and circumstances at the time the transaction is 200
entered into. 201
(29) "Purchase" means taking by sale, lease, discount, 202
negotiation, mortgage, pledge, lien, security interest, issue or 203
reissue, gift, or any other voluntary transaction creating an 204
interest in property. 205
(30) "Purchaser" means a person that takes by purchase. 206
(31) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a 207
tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium 208
and is retrievable in perceivable form. 209
(32) "Remedy" means any remedial right to which an 210
aggrieved party is entitled with or without resort to a tribunal. 211
(33) "Representative" means a person empowered to act 212
for another, including an agent, an officer of a corporation or 213
association, and a trustee, executor, or administrator of an 214
estate. 215
(34) "Right" includes remedy. 216
(35) "Security interest" means an interest in personal 217
property or fixtures which secures payment or performance of an 218
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obligation. "Security interest" includes any interest of a 219
consignor and a buyer of accounts, chattel paper, a payment 220
intangible, or a promissory note in a transaction that is subject 221
to Article 9. "Security interest" does not include the special 222
property interest of a buyer of goods on identification of those 223
goods to a contract for sale under Section 75-2-401, but a buyer 224
may also acquire a "security interest" by complying with Article 225
9. Except as otherwise provided in Section 75-2-505, the right of 226
a seller or lessor of goods under Article 2 or 2A to retain or 227
acquire possession of the goods is not a "security interest," but 228
a seller or lessor may also acquire a "security interest" by 229
complying with Article 9. The retention or reservation of title 230
by a seller of goods notwithstanding shipment or delivery to the 231
buyer under Section 75-2-401 is limited in effect to a reservation 232
of a "security interest." Whether a transaction in the form of a 233
lease creates a "security interest" is determined pursuant to 234
Section 75-1-203. 235
(36) "Send" in connection with a writing, record, or 236
notice means: 237
(A) To deposit in the mail or deliver for 238
transmission by any other usual means of communication with 239
postage or cost of transmission provided for and properly 240
addressed and, in the case of an instrument, to an address 241
specified thereon or otherwise agreed, or if there be none to any 242
address reasonable under the circumstances; or 243
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ST: Central bank digital currency; prohibit
governmental entities from using.
(B) In any other way to cause to be received any 244
record or notice within the time it would have arrived if properly 245
sent. 246
(37) "Signed" includes using any symbol executed or 247
adopted with present intention to adopt or accept a writing. 248
(38) "State" means a state of the United States, the 249
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 250
Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the 251
jurisdiction of the United States. 252
(39) "Surety" includes a guarantor or other secondary 253
obligor. 254
(40) "Term" means a portion of an agreement that 255
relates to a particular matter. 256
(41) "Unauthorized signature" means a signature made 257
without actual, implied, or apparent authority. The term includes 258
a forgery. 259
(42) "Warehouse receipt" means a receipt issued by a 260
person engaged in the business of storing goods for hire. 261
(43) "Writing" includes printing, typewriting, or any 262
other intentional reduction to tangible form. "Written" has a 263
corresponding meaning. 264
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from 265
and after July 1, 2026. 266