Lawmakers in Minnesota and Alabama have introduced matching bills that, if passed, would permit their states to purchase Bitcoin.
In Minnesota, the Bitcoin Act (HF 2946) was introduced to the state’s House by Republican Representative Bernie Perryman on April 1, following a similar bill introduced on March 17 by GOP state Senator Jeremy Miller.
The same day, Senator Will Barfoot, a Republican from Alabama, introduced Senate Bill 283. Additionally, a bipartisan group of representatives, led by Republican Mike Shaw, filed the identical House Bill 482. This bill would allow Alabama to invest in cryptocurrencies but essentially restricts investment to Bitcoin.
Minnesota’s Bitcoin Act aims to authorize the state’s investment board to allocate state assets to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. It would also allow state employees to include crypto in their retirement plans, exempt crypto gains from state income taxes, and provide residents the option to pay state taxes and fees using Bitcoin.
Unlike Minnesota’s bill, Alabama’s proposals don’t directly mention Bitcoin. However, they restrict the state’s crypto investments to assets with a minimum market value of $750 billion—currently, only Bitcoin meets this criterion.
So far, 26 US states have introduced bills to establish a Bitcoin reserve. Submitting identical bills is a common strategy in the US to accelerate the legislative process. According to data from the bill-tracking site Bitcoin Laws, Arizona is currently the closest to passing such a law.
