New Hampshire and Arizona have become the first states in America to authorize its treasurer to invest public money into cryptocurrency after Govs. Kelly Ayotte (R) and Katie Hobbs (D) signed bills extending investment options to include digital currency.
The New Hampshire bill was the first to become law of about 18 similar measures introduced this year. Arizona lawmakers approved a version earlier, though Hobbs signed her state’s version a day after Ayotte. Other measures have won endorsements from committees or full chambers in Oklahoma and Texas.
“The Live Free or Die state is leading the way in forging the future of commerce and digital assets,” the House Republican Conference said on its account on X, alongside a photo of Ayotte posing with House Majority Leader Jason Osborne (R).
The New Hampshire law will allow Treasurer Monica Mezzapelle to invest up to 5% of funds in state investment accounts in digital currency. It limits potential investments to digital assets — cryptocurrencies — with market capitalizations of more than $500 billion.
Read more: Following Trump, states consider crypto reserves
That effectively limits the number of cryptocurrencies from which Mezzapelle’s office can chose to one — only Bitcoin has a market cap sufficient to meet state criteria, at $1.88 trillion as of Tuesday’s trading. Ethereum, the second-most valuable cryptocurrency, has a market cap of $213 billion, according to CoinBase.
The measure also allows the treasurer to invest in precious metals, limited to silver, gold or platinum.
The bill Hobbs signed will allow Arizona to open a Bitcoin reserve fund using unclaimed cryptocurrency already in the state’s possession. Hobbs vetoed legislation that would have allowed the state to invest public funds in cryptocurrencies. Hobbs has yet to act on another bill that would authorize the state Treasurer to invest up to 10% of budget stabilization funds in cryptocurrency.
The new strategic reserves comes after the Trump administration launched a national version, which would allow the federal Treasury Department to buy and sell crypto assets. Crypto enthusiasts, such as Satoshi Action, an industry interest group, have been shopping model bills to lawmakers across the country.
In an interview in March, Dennis Porter, Satoshi Action’s chief executive, said his group had intentionally set the market capitalization high enough that only Bitcoin would qualify for state investments. Because Bitcoin specifically is run on a decentralized blockchain, it does not allow a single person or a small group of people to make changes to the underlying technology, which prevents volatility that could harm a state’s investment.
“Bitcoin cannot be altered or changed in ways that can alter the value and supply,” Porter told Pluribus News. “You know forever that you’re going to have your one out of 21 million Bitcoins. They’re not going to be able to inflate the supply or make radical changes that would impact the state directly.”
Ayotte’s signature does not necessarily mean New Hampshire will race headlong into the cryptocurrency space. While the law allows Mezzapelle’s office to invest in crypto assets, it does not require her to do so. Even after President Trump signed an executive order creating a cryptocurrency reserve, the federal government has not yet made substantial cryptocurrency investments.
This post has been updated to add details of Arizona’s new cryptocurrency reserve fund.