New Hampshire State Consultant Keith Ammon launched laws to create a strategic reserve of digital belongings with a mean yearly market cap of over $500 billion and US-pegged stablecoins to the state treasury, in accordance with a invoice launched on Jan. 9.
The invoice caps investments in these various belongings at 10% of the whole public funds, roughly $360 million, in accordance with the treasury ending stability as of June 30.
Moreover, the invoice highlights that these belongings have to be held by “secure custody solutions,” which guarantee unique entry to cryptographic personal keys, certified custodians, and registered exchange-traded merchandise (ETP).
ETPs have to be accredited by regulatory our bodies such because the Securities and Change Fee (SEC) or the Commodity Futures Trading Fee (CFTC).
Solely Bitcoin meets the necessities
In keeping with CryptoSlate information, solely Bitcoin (BTC) meets the market cap requirement within the proposed laws for cryptocurrencies. The state treasury can even add stablecoins like Tether USD (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC).
The invoice additionally permits the state to spend money on conventional valuable metals like gold, silver, and platinum along with crypto.
The proposal additionally opens the door for New Hampshire to have interaction in staking, though Bitcoin is the one crypto making the minimize and isn’t based mostly on a proof of stake consensus mechanism.
By integrating staking, New Hampshire could be prepared so as to add crypto akin to Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) in a situation the place their market caps meet the factors, and earn passive income based mostly on their holdings.
Moreover, the invoice proposes lending digital belongings as an alternative choice, offered the state retains authorized possession and works with third-party suppliers in each circumstances.
Not sneaky
Satoshi Motion Fund CEO and co-founder Dennis Porter welcomed the invoice and acknowledged that it added the excessive market cap requirement to restrict state funding in Bitcoin. He defined that calling the asset by title within the invoice is unattainable in some US states.
In response to feedback that this was a “sneaky way” so as to add Bitcoin to state treasuries, Porter defined:
“It’s not a ‘sneaky’ way. Some states will require us to develop tech neutral bills which is very common in policy. It’s a way to reduce political friction. Some bills will be Bitcoin exclusive, some will be based on market cap. We work with lawmakers to ensure they have confidence in the bill passing.”
New Hampshire is the most recent state to provoke laws to determine a Bitcoin strategic reserve. Porter stated that 10 extra US states are able to introduce comparable payments centered on a Bitcoin strategic reserve within the coming weeks and months.
Consultant Mike Cabell launched comparable laws in Pennsylvania on Nov. 14, 2024, and Consultant Giovanni Capriglione adopted with comparable laws in Texas lower than one month later.
In the meantime, Alabama’s State Auditor Andrew Sorrell just lately proposed creating a BTC strategic reserve, and Florida Chief Monetary Officer Jimmy Patronis advocated for a similar resolution.
