US President Trump signed an order last week to establish a strategic BTC reserve, but failed to provide new funds to buy BTC, disappointing the market. At the same time, multiple US states are also pushing for bills to include BTC in state government assets. Among them, the BTC bill in Utah, which is making the fastest progress, was passed in the state Senate last week (it had previously passed the House), but the core clause allowing the state to hold a BTC reserve was deleted, and it failed to become the first US state to have a BTC reserve.
Clause to invest 5% of assets in BTC deleted
Cointelegraph reported that the bill, officially called the "Blockchain and Digital Innovation Amendments" (HB230), was passed in the Senate on the 7th with 19 votes in favor, 7 against, and 3 abstentions, and will be sent to Utah Governor Spencer Cox to be signed into law. It will provide basic custodial protection for Utah citizens and grant them the right to mine, run nodes, and participate in staking.
However, the original clause of the bill authorized the Utah State Treasurer to invest up to 5% of the assets in five state government accounts in digital assets with a market capitalization of over $500 billion (currently only BTC meets this criteria). This clause was passed in the second reading but was deleted in the third and final reading.
The report indicates that the reason for deleting this clause was that people had many concerns about such clauses and the premature adoption of such policies, which also dashed the dream of Utah becoming the first US state to adopt a BTC reserve.
Progress of BTC reserve bills in various states
After the Utah reserve expectation fell through, which state government might be the next to take up the baton? According to data tracked by the Bitcoin Laws website, two BTC reserve bills in Arizona and one in Texas are closest to being passed, with these bills having been voted through in state Senate committees and now awaiting final votes in the House.
Of the 31 state BTC reserve bills that have been introduced, 25 are still in progress, including bills in Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oklahoma.
However, the bills in Pennsylvania, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming have failed to pass.
The Texas Senate passed the BTC Strategic Reserve Bill SB 21 on the 6th with 25 votes in favor and 5 against, allowing the state to invest some public funds in digital assets. The bill still needs to be approved by the House and signed by the Governor to become law.
The SB 21 bill stipulates that Texas will create a state-managed fund to hold cryptocurrencies such as BTC, with the Texas Comptroller responsible for overseeing the reserve, which will hold at least $500 billion in cryptocurrency and be eligible for state budget allocations. Additionally, Texas will also establish a BTC Strategic Reserve Advisory Committee to provide guidance on managing the fund and require a report on its holdings every two years.
