Gold is back, and its paying the bills

Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, signed a bill last week enabling Floridians to use gold and silver as legal tender. 

This comes as precious metals, typically seen as safe haven assets, sail onwards at inflated prices amidst the uncertainty of the Trump administration.

Gold price, 1 year - Source: Trading Economics

DeSantis has branded this move one which “stands firmly for freedom, economic self-determination and resistance to government overreach” as he announced the bill on X. 

The bill comes into effect in July 2026 and specifies that precious metals must be of specific purities and stamped with their weights to be accepted as tender.

While many commentators have branded this as solving a problem nobody has, it does follow in the footsteps of other states, such as Utah.

In 2011, Utah implemented a legal framework to recognise gold and silver as legal tender.

Utah’s implementation has been somewhat reassuring. There has been at least moderate reported usage of gold and silver as currency, for example through the use of Goldback notes (thin sheets of gold resembling traditional banknotes).

Furthermore, the policy was recently expanded in 2025 where according to the state treasurer, the ‘Utah Legislature [passed a] bill paving the way for state vendors to be paid in gold and silver’.

Therefore, as seen in Utah, this could be seen as important to some Floridians who have distrust for the central government and their control of the USD. 

The narrative of distrust has been especially popular following the Fed’s injection of trillions of dollars into the pandemic economy.

However, the move also reflects a push from state governments to attempt to maintain power over finances, or rather, take it away from the central government, by shifting local spending from the dollar.

This can see this from how DeSantis brands the policy as a “resistance to government overreach” on X. 

Furthermore, even though there has been adoption by some local shops, Deseret News reports that “Despite legal currency status, you can’t buy groceries with gold or silver”. 

This is a preview to the extended research paper on the current state and global trends surrounding precious metals which will be available on the Barker Research platform upon launch.