As Utah became the first state to get a bill through a legislative chamber that would allow the investment of public money into crypto assets, lawmakers in two other states joined the hunt this week: Kentucky and Maryland.
Though broadly identified with the Republican-led charge toward a so-called “bitcoin strategic reserve” at the federal level, the states have moved their own measures, widely varied as to how each might invest state money into digital assets.
Utah’s bill to allow the state treasurer to put money into digital assets survived a tight vote in the Utah House of Representatives — advancing with just a three-vote margin — to head on Friday to the state senate. If it clears both chambers and is signed into law by the governor, the legislation would permit investing public money into stablecoins or cryptocurrency with a market cap of more than $500 billion, which is currently a single-name list: bitcoin.
The new bill in Maryland this week, introduced by Democrat Delegate Caylin Young, pushes for a bitcoin (BTC) strategic reserve, much like the one contemplated by U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis. In Maryland, the reserve would be funded through revenue from the enforcement of gambling violations.
The legislation in Kentucky also landed this week, with two bills — so far — that would open state retirement funds for investment in digital assets exchange-traded funds. The bills would also throw up roadblocks for the use of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
Most of the state bills have steered clear of calling for new taxpayer money to be channeled into crypto.
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Fifteen other states are weighing legislation in their current sessions, with others expected to follow, and another two states — Michigan and Wisconsin — already have portions of their retirement funds in crypto ETFs. The surge in state interest mostly developed after the election of President Donald Trump and his stated interest in a strategic stockpile of digital assets.
Trump issued an executive order calling for his administration’s crypto working group to examine the possibilities of a crypto stockpile for the U.S., though he’s stopped short of calling for a strategic bitcoin reserve.