BTC Surges to $97K, But U.S. States Are Quietly Dropping Bitcoin Bills

Key Insights

• Florida has just kicked out the HB 487 and SB 550 bills, rejecting the application for creating a state-funded Bitcoin reserve.
• Even though lawmakers have extended the legislative session to focus on budget planning until 6 June, the crypto bills will not be part of the discussion.
• Several other states have also moved the same way, with Arizona, Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Wyoming being major examples.
• Despite the ongoing roadblocks, the conversation around Bitcoin as a strategic reserve isn’t over.

The Bitcoin community has taken another kick to the shins this week, with Florida officially pulling out of the crypto race.

The US state recently trashed two proposed bills, House Bill 487 and Senate Bill 550 that would have authorized investment of public funds into Bitcoin indefinitely.

This decision has just aligned Florida with the growing number of US states that have abandoned similar efforts.

These moves have cast doubt on the future of Bitcoin as a state-level treasury asset, and here are some more details.

Florida Halts Progress on Bitcoin Bills

The HB 487 and SB 550 bills were both introduced earlier this year and were geared at allowing Florida’s Chief Financial Officer and the State Board of Administration to allocate up to 10% of certain state funds into Bitcoin.

Supporters saw this as a major win for Bitcoin and a way to diversify the state’s portfolio with what they believe is a hard, deflationary asset.

Critics, on the other hand, drew attention to Bitcoin’s volatility and the long-term risk associated with crypto.

The Florida legislature eventually adjourned its decision on 2 May without taking up the bills, and on 3 May, announced that both were officially “indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration.”

Even though lawmakers have extended the legislative session to focus on budget planning until 6 June, the crypto bills will not be part of the discussion.

This is especially disappointing, considering how Florida lawmakers approved over 230 bills, from a school smartphone ban to state park protections and still left out digital asset investment.

A National Trend of Rejection

Florida’s decision is far from isolated. Several other states have also moved to reject or even shelf similar bills, with Arizona, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Wyoming being major examples.

In most of these cases, the proposals gained a great deal of traction before crashing face-down at the committee or floor vote stages.

Even Utah, which was once seen as one of the most promising early adopters, amended one of its bills to remove a provision that would have allowed digital asset investments.

The final version of the bill ended up passing, but still missed the Bitcoin component.

The number of active proposals have also declined, with more than 45 Bitcoin reserve bills being introduced across over two dozen states early this year.

However as of early May, that number had dropped to 36 active proposals in just 19 states.

Arizona, Texas and New Hampshire

Arizona came the closest to making history after advancing House Bill 1025 further than any other in the country.

The bill proposed allowing the state to invest seized funds into Bitcoin and to create a reserve managed by state officials.

It passed both legislative chambers before being vetoed by Governor Katie Hobbs on May 3.

According to governor Hobbs in her veto statement, Hobbs called digital assets “untested investments” and said that pension and retirement systems were “not the place to experiment” with them.

Despite the setback, Arizona still has the HB 2749 and SB 1373, two more bills in the pipeline.

The HB 2749 proposes funding the reserve using profits from the unclaimed property fund, and the SB 1373 wants to permit the state treasurer to invest up to 10% of funds into digital assets.

Anthony Pompliano has so far criticized the state-level vetoes as shortsighted. “Imagine the ignorance of a politician to believe they can make investment decisions,” he tweeted about the Arizona veto.

So far, while the momentum appears to be fading, Texas and New Hampshire are still in the game.

Overall, despite the ongoing roadblocks, the conversation around Bitcoin as a strategic reserve isn’t over.

Whether the status-quo changes in the future remains to be seen.

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