Two more U.S. states are joining the trend of holding bitcoin as part of their state reserves. On April 10, bitcoin reserve bills in both New Hampshire and Florida advanced, helping state-owned bitcoin reserves become a reality.
Governments holding bitcoin is a growing theme across the U.S., with several states proposing to invest a portion of public funds in the scarce digital asset. Now New Hampshire and Florida are the latest to jump on the bandwagon.
In New Hampshire, HB302 passed the House 192–179 and now moves to the Senate. If it passes and is signed by Governor Kelly Ayotte, the state can invest up to 10% of its general fund and other approved funds in bitcoin and precious metals.
Florida’s House Insurance and Banking Committee also approved HB487 unanimously. It still has two more committees to go before it hits the full House.
Both bills specify that only digital assets with a market cap of over $500 billion qualify. Right now, bitcoin is the only one that meets that requirement, so it’s the only one the states can invest in.
Both bills also have custody rules to ensure that the digital assets are stored securely.
States can hold bitcoin directly, through qualified custodians or regulated exchange-traded products. In some cases they may also be able to lend or stake the assets—as long as the state retains ownership and follows security standards.
The bill in New Hampshire sparked debate among lawmakers.
Democratic Rep Terry Spahr said the bill is unnecessary because the state treasurer already has the power to invest in digital assets. He also warned about locking the state into strict investment rules in a constantly changing bitcoin market.
“Crypto is constantly evolving, and locking us into a fixed security framework may do more harm than good,” Spahr said.
Republican Rep. Jordan Ulery supported the bill saying it could bring in money for the state. “There’s potential for a large amount of money being earned by the state in these investments,” he said.
Florida had unanimous bipartisan support for its bill, which is rare for Bitcoin-related legislation, as it often faces opposition, especially from lawmakers worried about volatility and risk.
Representative Webster Barnaby, the bill’s sponsor, said, “Let’s put Florida on the leading edge of this very new technology.”
New Hampshire and Florida aren’t the only ones exploring bitcoin for public finance.
Arizona and Texas have already passed similar bills through at least one chamber. According to the Bitcoin Laws tracker, Arizona is in the lead. Two of its bills — SB1373 and SB1025 — have cleared committees and are waiting for a full House vote.
New Hampshire has two other blockchain bills: one on stablecoins and tokenizing real-world assets (HB310) and another on blockchain regulations and dispute resolution (HB639).
Supporters point to big institutions like BlackRock and Franklin Templeton which are showing interest in bitcoin-backed investment products.
