A bill to establish a strategic reserve of Texas Bitcoin has progressed through a key committee and heads for a full vote.
On May 7, Texas House Committee on the delivery of the government’s efficiency approved the Senate bill 21 during a 9-4 vote, eliminating one of the last obstacles before being able to land on the office of governor Greg Abbott.
Initially introduced by the Republican senator Charles Schwertner in January as a Bitcoin (BTC) proposal only, SB 21 was then redesigned in February to allow other digital assets with a minimum market capitalization of $ 500 billion in the last 12 months. Bitcoin is currently the only digital currency to meet this criterion.
If adopted, the bill would allow the State controller to manage the reserve and invest state funds in eligible cryptographic assets.
The bill had previously adopted the Texas Senate on March 6 with a vote of 25 to 5.
According to data from the Bitcoin legislation laws, SB 21 is not the only legislation linked to the crypto that the legislators of Texas presented this year.
In March, HB 4258 was proposed to allow the State controller to invest up to $ 250 million from the Bitcoin Economic Stabilization Fund or in other cryptocurrencies.
Meanwhile, SB 778, introduced in February of this year, focuses on the acceptance of taxes and donations in crypto and imposes a minimum detention period of five years for any bitcoin acquired by the State.
Texas is not the only one to explore Bitcoin reserves. One day before SB 21 adopted the Texas Committee, the Governor of Arizona, Katie Hobbs, signed HB 2749, creating a bitcoin reserve fund and digital assets financed by unqualized digital assets.
The same day, the governor of New Hampshire, Kelly Ayotte, signed HB 302, which makes it the first state to legally authorize the investment of the public fund in Bitcoin and other eligible assets. Up to 10% of the General State Fund can now be invested in digital assets exceeding a market capitalization of $ 500 billion, which limits it effectively in Bitcoin.
Currently, 37 Bitcoin reserve strategic invoices are being examined in 18 US states. The number was initially higher, but many proposals failed to obtain legislative support.
Florida has become the last to put aside its Bitcoin reserve plans on May 6, joining Wyoming, southern Dakota, Northern Dakota, Pennsylvania, Montana and Oklahoma, which have all seen similar bills rejected during recent votes from the Chamber or the Senate.
