House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) laid into Wyoming’s accelerating plans to issue its own stablecoin Thursday, issuing a rare rebuke of a fellow Republican crypto initiative. 

“I respect the vote of the Wyoming people, however, I personally am vehemently against any government issuing a tokenized version of its currency,” Emmer told Decrypt. “At the federal level, this would be considered a central bank digital currency.”

Central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs—digital versions of a state’s fiat currency—have in recent years become a favored boogeyman of Republican politicians. GOP governors and President Donald Trump alike have worked to ban the development of CBDCs in the United States, given their perceived threat to user privacy. Many Republicans have taken to dubbing CBDCs as “Big Brother’s digital dollar.”

That’s because central bank digital currencies, unlike cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum, are managed by a central issuer that could have the ability to freeze funds or otherwise control how these currencies are spent. And while lacking the censorship-resistance of Bitcoin, CBDCs come with all the transparency: Every transaction made with a “digital dollar,” for instance, would be available to the central issuer for scrutiny.

And yet, on Wednesday, Wyoming’s Republican governor, Mark Gordon, announced that his state is planning to issue a cryptocurrency as soon as July: its long-planned stablecoin, WYST. 

Those involved with the project insist that the stablecoin, even if it is issued by the Wyoming government, is nothing like a CBDC. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies generally pegged to the price of the U.S. dollar, which allow users to trade in and out of crypto without exiting digital assets completely. They also serve as dollar equivalents in markets where dollars are restricted.

Anthony Apollo, executive director of Wyoming’s Stable Token Commission, maintained Thursday that even though he too is opposed to the notion of a state-backed CBDC, WYST is an entirely different type of product.

“Wyoming cares significantly about privacy,” Apollo told Decrypt. “We’re going to have rules in place about what we can and can’t collect, how we can treat that data, and how we can act on that data.”

The director added that the exact nature of such policies is still being ironed out internally. Wyoming’s government is also weighing relying on a third party like a centralized crypto exchange to handle data collection for WYST.

One of the chief criticisms levied against government issued tokens, though, is that whatever rules one administration makes about them, could always be changed by future ones.

Apollo went on to argue that unlike CBDCs, which are digitally issued by a central bank the same way cash is created, Wyoming’s stablecoin will be fully backed by reserves like U.S. Treasuries, and so does not pose inflationary risk.

“Wyoming is not a central bank,” Apollo said. “We are not issuing any cash.”

But why is a solidly red state attempting to issue any form of government-backed digital asset?

Backstage at the DC Blockchain Summit on Wednesday, Gov. Mark Gordon and Apollo made the case that a public stablecoin could offer key benefits private issuers—such as Circle, the issuer of USDC—would balk at, including lower fees and flexibility on touchier transactions like firearms purchases. Interest accrued from the token’s Treasury reserves would also fund the state’s school system.

But the token’s rollout has certainly brought with it questions about the role of government in issuing such a product. Apollo said it’s fairly common for him to have to field questions about whether WYST is a CBDC or not at public hearings and even in conversations with state legislators.

The topic is currently front of mind in Wyoming. Just weeks ago, Gordon signed a bill into law prohibiting the development of a CBDC in the state. The bill’s sponsor said a key purpose of the legislation was “to send a clear message to Congress: that Wyoming rejects the idea of essentially controlled digital currency.”

MORGAN COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV) – A wanted fugitive out of Wyoming is in custody in Colorado after a month-long, multi-state manhunt.

The U.S. Marshals Service said 25-year-old Tyger Rodriguez was arrested on Wednesday in rural Morgan County.

Officials said he was wanted for two counts of felony aggravated assault and battery stemming from incidents that happened in mid-February.

The arrest warrants were issued on Feb. 19 and 20, and officials

After developing information that Rodriguez had fled Wyoming and was possibly hiding in rural northeast Colorado, the U.S. Marshals Service was contacted and joined the investigation.

Investigators tracked him to a rural property about four miles west of Fort Morgan.

“We are incredibly grateful to all of our law enforcement partners whose dedication and cooperation made this arrest possible,” Morgan County Sheriff Dave Martin said. “We also extend our sincere thanks to the local businesses and citizens who offered their assistance throughout the investigation and today’s operation.”

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WASHINGTON—Making a case that he’s the right man to lead the federal agency that manages the nation’s wildlife, Brian Nesvik declared a childhood love for the furred, feathered and finned among us, and the wild habitats they depend upon. 

“It would shape my life’s work,” Nesvik told members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works of his love for wildlife.

Testifying Wednesday from Capitol Hill’s Dirksen Senate Building, the longtime Wyoming resident also advertised the on-the-ground skills he’s developed as a rank-and-file warden, then chief warden, then director of the state’s Game and Fish Department. 

“I know how to put tire chains on a 4-wheel-drive pickup in a snowstorm, and I’ve classified deer from a helicopter, and [I know] how to patrol some of America’s most remote and wild country from a horse,” Nesvik told West Virginia Republican Chairwoman Shelley Moore Capito and other senators on the panel. 

In February, Nesvik became the Trump administration’s nominee to direct the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a post that’s in charge of 8,000 employees and oversees a wildlife refuge system engulfing nearly 860 million acres. If confirmed, he’d follow in the footsteps of John Turner, a Fish and Wildlife Service director from a Teton County ranching family who led the agency in the early 1990s during the George H. W. Bush administration. 

Confirmation hearings in U.S. Senate committees are often used by those in the political minority to poke holes in an appointee’s credentials and career, shining light on missteps and controversy. There was little criticism, however, directed Nesvik’s way from congressional Democrats. The most fired-up line of questioning came from Alaska Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, who bashed the Biden administration for “70 executive orders” that he alleged were harming Alaskans.

“The radical, far-left environmental groups want to crush my state,” Sullivan said. “Nobody ever wrote about that. It’s amazing. They’re not going to write about this, either.” 

Eventually, the Alaska senator formulated a question: “Will you commit to work with me on implementing the president’s day one executive order — very long, very detailed — on unleashing Alaska’s extraordinary resource potential?”

Nesvik was direct. 

“Absolutely,” he said. “I also look forward to visiting your state and learning about a lot of issues that you’re very passionate about.” 

In his opening remarks, Nesvik said that President Donald Trump’s “America first” agenda provides “immediate and transformational opportunities.” 

“Simplifying regulations, accelerating permitting with technology, and relying more on education, voluntary compliance and verification, I share [Interior] Secretary [Doug] Burgum’s vision that innovation outperforms regulation,” Nesvik said. 

In a later exchange with chairwoman Moore Capito, the one-time game warden from Pinedale was asked about his past experiences working with Fish and Wildlife Service personnel who he’d be leading.

“Certainly, at times, there’s this natural tension and friction between state and federal agencies,” Nesvik testified. “Fish [and] Wildlife Service is guided and directed by congressional action and laws, as are state agencies. A lot of times those interests are conflicting.” 

A bedrock of U.S. environmental law, the Endangered Species Act, can fracture states and federal relations — it’s an issue that in 2023 brought Nesvik to Washington, D.C., to testify. Two years later, he was asked whether he’d “commit to expediting” the ESA consultation process. 

Nesvik said that he thought the consultation requirement was a “good component” of the ESA when it was enacted in 1975, but that there were “opportunities to be more prompt and timely.”

Nesvik was introduced by three of Wyoming’s highest political leaders, U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis and Gov. Mark Gordon. 

Lummis described him as “Wyoming’s real life Joe Pickett” — a nod to the C.J. Box book series about a game warden. Barrasso, a former Senate Environment and Public Works chairman, spoke highly of Nesvik’s professional credentials. 

“I actually first met him when he served in the Wyoming Army National Guard — he’s been in the guard since ‘86,” the state’s senior senator said. 

Gordon — who picked Nesvik to lead Game and Fish in 2019 — similarly touted the Trump administration’s nominee. 

“Brian has taken part in and led Wyoming’s efforts to successfully recover some of the world’s most charismatic megafauna,” Gordon testified. “In Wyoming, that’s grizzly bears, grey wolves, as well as some of our treasured species that have [been] declared extinct, like black-footed ferrets.” 

If confirmed, Nesvik could wind up leading the Fish and Wildlife Service with fewer Wyoming-based staff and resources because of the president who appointed him. The Trump administration’s Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency has caused disarray within the agency, slashing staff that lead black-footed ferret recovery and run its Saratoga fish hatchery and angling to close the service’s tribal-focused Lander Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office. 

Since the mass layoffs started in February there have been court-ordered rehirings, but the official toll of the cuts on Fish and Wildlife’s staffing and resources in Wyoming is unclear. Written questions sent in by WyoFile for several stories yielded only short statements from the agency’s Washington, D.C. headquarters. 

Nesvik declined an interview for this story. He cited his still-pending confirmation, which must clear the entire U.S. Senate.