‘Every American should be able to use paper currency’

Countering the push for a centralized digital currency, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman (D) launched a bipartisan effort to keep cash king.

Late last week, President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act, creating a federal regulatory system for stablecoin, cryptocurrency backed by liquid assets. While some cautioned that the bill allowed for a potential back door to a central bank digital currency (CBDC), Fetterman and North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer (R) aimed to make accepting cash the law of the land.

Thursday, a day prior to Trump signing the GENIUS Act, the lawmakers detailed what they were calling the Payment Choice Act, currently a less than 10-page piece of legislation that would require any in-person business to accept cash for transactions, barring specific circumstances.

“Any person engaged in the business of selling or offering goods or services at retail to the public who accepts in-person payments at a physical location … shall accept cash as a form of payment for sales made at such physical location in amounts up to and including $500 per transaction,” read the bill in part as it also aimed to bar businesses from charging a premium for the use of cash.

“It’s simple: if you’re open for business in America, you should take U.S. dollars,” expressed Fetterman in an accompanying press release. “I’m proud to introduce the bipartisan Payment Choice Act with Senator Cramer because every American should be able to use paper currency if they choose. We have millions of people in this country who don’t have access to bank accounts, and they must be able to go shopping with their hard-earned dollars.”

Exceptions to the rule included businesses that made available “a device that converts cash into prepaid cards” without a fee in addition to temporary issues, such as system failures or insufficient cash on hand to issue change during a transaction.

“The Secretary shall issue a rule on the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this section with respect to any bill denominations a person is not required to accept,” detailed the bill that, in its current form, would not require businesses to accept bills $50 and over. “When issuing a rule under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall require persons to accept $1, $5, $10, and $20 bills.”

Among those who opposed the GENIUS Act, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) joined Steve Bannon’s “War Room” to voice her concern that the legislation would allow for a “CASHLESS SOCIETY & END OF FINANCIAL FREEDOM.”

“Everyone is in blind rage about the Epstein files, and I don’t blame them,” she said Thursday. “However, right now, what is being voted on today in Congress is the entire setup, groundwork, and entire infrastructure being laid to move from cash to digital currency. And the number one thing that is not happening today is a ban on a central bank digital currency.”

“… I’m voting no to this because I’m a Christian and I’ve read the Bible, and I believe what Revelation 13:16 through 17 says,” Greene went on referring to the Mark of the Beast “so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark,” before adding, “And I just cannot vote for a future system that will do that.”

MTG blasts Trump crypto bill: ‘I’ve read the Bible’ https://t.co/v96gwmDZq3 via @BIZPACReview

— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) July 18, 2025

Explaining his position on the Payment Choice Act, Cramer said, “Cash is still legal tender in the United States, despite some businesses’ exclusive acceptance of electronic payments.”

“Forcing the use of credit cards and debit cards or imposing premium prices on goods and services paid for with cash limits consumer choice. Americans should have the option of using cards or cash, but they should be the ones who make that choice,” he added as the press release detailed 4.5% of American households do not have checking or savings accounts and, despite a decline in recent years, roughly 20% of all payments in the U.S. are conducted with cash.

If enacted, a further requirement of the legislation calls for annual reports on the distribution of in-service ATMs owned by federally insured depository institutions and the “approximate geographic range or radius within which [they] are deployed.”

Staff Writer

Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn’t researching current events and their impacts, you’ll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.

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