On Thursday, the New Hampshire House of Representatives approved a bill aimed at establishing a state Bitcoin reserve.
The vote on New Hampshire Bill HB302, which would permit the state’s treasury to invest in both precious metals and digital assets, was extremely close, resulting in 192 votes in favor and 179 against.
The bill will now proceed to the Senate of New Hampshire.
“While we are tied to the U.S. dollar, this proposal would allow the state to invest a small percentage in this innovative asset class which is not correlated to traditional markets,” said New Hampshire Representative and bill originator Keith Ammon in a prior statement to Decrypt.
Introduced in January, this legislation allows the treasury to invest as much as 5% of the state’s public funds in eligible assets, as outlined in the amended bill from the House. Initially, the proposal suggested a potential investment of up to 10% of public funds.
These allocated funds may be directed towards precious metals like gold and silver, or any digital assets that have a market capitalization exceeding $500 billion on average over the preceding calendar year. Currently, only Bitcoin meets this criterion.
According to the latest annual report, New Hampshire’s treasury holds approximately $3.6 billion in funds, allowing the state to potentially purchase around $181 million worth of either precious metals or Bitcoin.
If entirely allocated to Bitcoin, which is currently priced at $79,755, New Hampshire could amass a reserve of roughly 2,269 BTC. As of now, Bitcoin has seen a decline of about 3.5% in value, according to data from CoinGecko.
The legislation specifies that any digital assets acquired by the state must be managed by a qualified custodian, stored securely by the treasurer, or held through an exchange-traded product from a registered investment firm.
New Hampshire is among several states exploring Bitcoin reserve legislation, although some initiatives have thus far faltered in their respective legislative bodies, as seen in Pennsylvania and Wyoming.
On March 6, President Donald Trump authorized an executive order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve for the United States.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
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