Arizona lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow the state to hold digital assets in a reserve instead of selling them, and XRP is one of the names on the list.
The proposal would place those assets under the control of the state treasurer and could also allow the state to earn additional returns through staking, airdrops or limited lending if doing so does not create financial risk.
What the fund would hold
SB1649 creates a strategic reserve fund for digital assets composed of digital assets held, confiscated or transferred to Arizona.
The bill text also states that the Treasurer could deposit state-held digital assets through a secure custody solution or approved exchange-traded product and then administer the fund directly.
It defines “digital asset” broadly enough to include Bitcoin, XRP, stablecoins, non-fungible tokens, Dash, Internet Computer, Ravencoin, Chia, eCash, Monero, and other digital-only assets that meet the bill’s fair value test.
This fair value test is based on adoption, annual transactions, annual transaction value and development activity. Simply put, the bill attempts to sort assets based on their market use and technical strength before they can be treated as reserve assets.
The wording is broad, but it is not an unlimited invitation to buy anything. It first establishes a screening standard.
A bill that continues to advance
The measure has already been approved by the House Rules Committee and is headed for a vote in the full House. Arizona’s legislative tracker shows the committee approved it 8-0 on March 30, after earlier Senate action sent it through the chamber. This means that the bill is still in force, but is not yet law.
The House step is important because it brings the proposal closer to the finish line. The bill would give the treasurer the authority to manage the fund and also allow digital assets declared as abandoned property to be delivered in native form to the state or its custodian.
If these assets go unclaimed for long enough, staking rewards and airdrops could be transferred into the reserve fund.
Why XRP is in the mix
XRP has attracted particular attention because it is named directly in the bill, and not implicitly within a broad crypto category. The same section that lists Bitcoin also lists XRP as well as several other assets that could be eligible for the reserve framework.
Featured Image from Meta, Chart from TradingView
