Arizona has advanced Senate Bill 1025 — also generally known as the “Arizona Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) Act” — out of committee, positioning it to develop into the primary US state to vote on laws that might authorize investing state funds in Bitcoin.
Dennis Porter, CEO and founding father of the advocacy group Satoshi Act Fund, broke the news via X. In his words: “BIG BREAKING: I can confirm that Arizona has develop into the first state within the nation to pass out of committee a bill to create a ‘Strategic Bitcoin Reserve’. The bill will soon move to a floor vote within the Senate. Congrats to co-sponsors Wendy Rogers and Jeff Weninger for his or her leadership.”
Arizona Leads The Bitcoin Revolution
The proposed act allows a “public fund” (meaning either the State Treasurer or a state retirement system) to take a position not greater than 10% of its assets under management into virtual currencies akin to BTC. Specifically, the text says:
“A public fund may invest not greater than ten percent of the general public monies under its control in virtual currency holdings … If the USA Secretary of the Treasury establishes a strategic Bitcoin reserve for the storage of presidency Bitcoin holdings, a public fund may store the virtual currency holdings of the general public fund in a secure segregated account throughout the strategic Bitcoin reserve.”
The laws defines “virtual currency” as a “digital representation of value that functions as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and a store of value apart from a representation of the USA dollar or a foreign currency,” and further stipulates that if federal authorities create a SBR, the state may opt to store its Bitcoin in that facility.
The Arizona general fund reportedly manages $28 billion, while the state retirement system holds $50 billion. Under the proposed laws, each fund could allocate as much as 10% of its assets into BTC, indicating a possible multi-billion dollar influx into digital assets. While the bill doesn’t mandate that 10% of state funds have to be allocated, it allows as much as that threshold for Bitcoin-related investment decisions.
In keeping with Porter, eleven US states have already introduced their respective Bitcoin reserve bills, and that at the least 15 states, potentially 16, are on the right track to pursue similar laws.
Satoshi Motion Fund, which has been closely involved in driving these efforts, stated via X: “We’re thrilled with the numerous progress revamped the past three months in introducing key laws, marking a crucial milestone in our mission. Nonetheless, the introduction of bills is just the start of the journey. To actually make an impact, we must give attention to advancing and enacting SBR laws into law, turning these proposals into actionable policies that may shape a stronger, more resilient financial future for ALL Americans.”
Having passed out of committee, SB 1025 will next move to the Senate floor for a full vote. If approved, the bill will proceed to the House of Representatives. Notably, no timeline has been released regarding the precise date of the Senate vote.
At press time, BTC traded at $102,970.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com