Texas Governor Greg Abbott has put his signature on a legislative bill that makes his state a trailblazer in the US. Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve is exactly the name of the new state fund that will accumulate bitcoin with taxpayer money.
Image source: capitol.texas.gov
The SB21 law doesn’t just authorize the state to buy cryptocurrency – it creates a separate entity completely independent of the general Texas treasury. This means that Bitcoin assets won’t be able to “dissolve” in budget reshuffles or suddenly go toward road repairs.
Only for selected assets
The fund operates under strict rules: only assets with a capitalization of over $500 billion can be included in it.
As of today, only Bitcoin meets this requirement. It turns out that the creators of the law initially aimed at the main cryptocurrency, and the capitalization requirement is more of a formality.
The reserve will be administered by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts under the guidance of an advisory committee of three specialists in crypto-investments. Every two years, the fund will publish reports on its assets and performance.
Interestingly, the reserve can be replenished not only through direct purchases. The law provides for receiving funds through forks, airdrops, investment profits, and even public donations in cryptocurrency.
Apparently, if any Texans want to donate a few bitcoins to the state, there will be no obstacles.
Texas beats the competition
Texas has become the third US state to pass a bitcoin reserve law, following Arizona and New Hampshire.
But there’s a crucial difference: the predecessors merely authorized such reserves, while Texas actually allocates state funds and creates a working structure.
Additional protection for the fund is provided by House Bill 4488, which Abbott signed earlier.
This law does not allow the bitcoin reserve to be included in the state’s general revenues, meaning that politicians will not be able to suddenly “reallocate” these funds for other purposes.
State Reserve Race. Source: Bitcoin Laws
Texas is betting on bitcoin as a strategic asset that can protect against inflation and strengthen the state’s financial stability.
Whether this initiative will succeed in becoming a model for other regions, time and, of course, the rate of the main cryptocurrency will show.
Source:: Texas Leads the Nation with State-Backed Bitcoin Reserve Funded by Taxpayers