Bitcoin logos are displayed at the Inside Bitcoins conference and trade show on April 7, 2014, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

A bill introduced by Oklahoma state Sen. Dusty Deevers (R-Elgin) that could permit employees in the state to be paid with cryptocurrency reached the committee process on Tuesday.

Devers introduced Senate Bill 325, also known as the “Bitcoin Freedom Act,” early last month. 

“There is a reason President [Donald] Trump campaigned heavily as a pro-Bitcoin candidate and spoke at prominent Bitcoin events. Bitcoin has arrived into the mainstream of our economy and is unquestionably a significant part of the financial future,” Deevers said in a statement published Jan. 8. 

“This legislation puts Oklahoma in a leadership role nationally, ensuring our state embraces the future of financial technology while providing our citizens with more financial options.”

The move is part of a broader pivot in the American conservative movement towards cryptocurrency, which advocates claim can be a hedge against inflation and allow for more “economic freedom.” However, while crypto tokens like Bitcoin present themselves as currency, it is more akin to a financial asset the owner can use to gamble on crypto markets. 

“I think the main use case for cryptocurrency is for market speculation, and creating complex and potentially economically dangerous financial instruments that are not that different from credit default swaps,” tech journalist Jacob Silverman explained following the 2021-22 crypto craze. 

And though the Biden administration tried to regulate the risky exchange platforms where crypto tokens were traded, Trump branded himself as the first pro-crypto president — he promised to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” and to build a Bitcoin “strategic reserve.” 

“We will have regulations, but from now on the rules will be written by people who love your industry, not hate your industry,” Trump said while on the campaign trail this past summer. 

Trump also infamously sold digital trading card non-fungible tokens (NFTs) during his campaign. “Cards” themed after Bitcoin were sold at $99 per NFT.