A West Virginia lawmaker recently introduced a bill that, if passed, would enable the state government to invest up to 10% of public funds into Bitcoin (BTC), stablecoins and/or precious metals.
Senate Bill 465 would greenlight the Board of Treasury Investments of West Virginia to invest in crypto assets with market caps of more than $750 billion averaged over the previous calendar year.
The only crypto that currently meets the market cap criteria is BTC. The potential legislation doesn’t include the same market cap requirements for stablecoins, though dollar-pegged assets would need to have appropriate regulatory approval in the US. The bill also would enable the Board of Treasury Investments to buy silver, gold and platinum.
Any crypto purchased by the state treasurer would need to be directly held via a secure custody solution, on behalf of the state by a qualified custodian or through an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The bill would would also enable the state treasurer to stake crypto.
Chris Rose, a Republican state senator, introduced the potential legislation last week.
Lawmakers in other states have had similar ideas.
Texas senators are meeting for a hearing on a crypto reserves bill, and a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act” has also been working its way through the Arizona legislative process. Lawmakers in Utah are also considering a parallel proposal.
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