New Hampshire’s House and Florida’s House Insurance and Banking Committee have both moved forward on legislation that would empower their states to build Bitcoin reserves.
In New Hampshire, the House approved its Bitcoin reserve measure, HB302, by a 192-179 vote on April 10, sending the bill to the Senate. With this approval, New Hampshire becomes the fourth state—joining Arizona, Texas, and Oklahoma—to have a Bitcoin reserve bill pass one chamber of its legislature.
Should HB302 pass in the Senate and receive Governor Kelly Ayotte’s signature, it will allow the state treasurer to invest up to 10% of the general fund, along with any other designated funds, in precious metals and selected digital assets. The legislation also outlines the protocol for safekeeping these assets.
A key stipulation in the bill is that only cryptocurrencies with a market capitalization exceeding $500 billion are eligible for investment – a benchmark that, at present, only Bitcoin meets.
During the debate preceding the vote, Democrat Representative Terry Spahr expressed concerns that the bill was redundant and might compromise the security of the state’s digital asset reserves. “Unbeknownst to the committee and to the sponsor […] the treasurer testified that they already have that authority,” Spahr remarked, adding that the ever-evolving nature of cryptocurrency means that locking into a set framework could be risky.
On the other side, Republican Representative Jordan Ulery stressed the bill’s potential to generate significant revenue for the state through these investments.
New Hampshire also has two additional blockchain-related proposals in the pipeline: HB310, dealing with stablecoins and the tokenization of real-world assets, and HB639, which focuses on blockchain regulation and resolving disputes.
Meanwhile, on April 10 in Florida, the House Insurance and Banking Committee unanimously passed HB487, Florida’s Bitcoin reserve bill. Before reaching the full House, the bill must clear three additional committee reviews.
Like the New Hampshire measure, HB487 would permit Florida’s chief financial officer and the State Board of Administration to allocate up to 10% of designated state funds – including the General Revenue Fund and the Budget Stabilization Fund – for investments in Bitcoin.
Republican Representative Webster Barnaby, the sponsor of the bill, urged the Committee to support the measure, arguing it would place Florida at the forefront of innovative financial technology.
Florida’s legislation would allow the state financial chief to invest directly in digital assets, either through qualified custodians or via exchange-traded products, and it establishes clear guidelines for security and asset custody.
Meanwhile, Arizona appears poised to be the first U.S. state to set up an official strategic Bitcoin reserve. On March 24, Arizona’s House Rules Committee cleared two digital assets reserve bills, SB1373 and SB1025, which now head to a full House vote. Should the House pass them, the bills would then await the signature of Arizona’s Democratic governor, Katie Hobbs, to become law.
