Utah Passes Bill Which Allows the State to Invest in Crypto

House Bill 230, also known as the Blockchain and Digital Innovation Amendments, has been passed by the Utah House Economic Development Committee.

This bill allows the state to use public funds and invest them in cryptocurrency. The next step is for the bill to go to the House to get full approval.

The Vote in Support of Crypto Investing was 8-1

The committee voted 8-1 in favor of passing the bill on January 28. HB230, which was introduced by Representative Jordan Teuscher, states that authorities can allocate 5% of certain public funds towards cryptocurrency assets.

One of the criteria that marks which currencies are greenlit is market capitalization. According to the bill, the crypto in which authorities are planning to invest must have a market cap of at least $500 billion. Bitcoin is among those cryptocurrencies. Stablecoins that meet strict criteria are also in the green zone.

One of the key points of the legislation is self-custody. The bill in Utah states that no state or government entity can restrict individuals in any way from taking custody of their assets via hardware wallets or any other type of wallet.

The State Treasurer will also play a crucial role. He will be charged with investing in cryptocurrencies. The term investing also includes activities such as lending assets, if certain conditions are met. As for security measures, the state must keep private keys in secure data centers which are accessible via end-to-end encryption channels only.

Arizona is Taking A Similar Approach

Just recently, the Arizona Senate Finance Committee approved SB1025, known as the Arizona Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act. According to this bill, authorities will have the power to invest up to 10% of public funds in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

The bill was introduced by Jeff Weninger and Wendy Rogers. Back in 2022, Wendy Rogers attempted to make Bitcoin a legal trading asset, but the efforts failed. This new bill is starting to gain traction and could make Arizona the first US state to legalize cryptocurrencies.

One of the key specifics of the bill is a provision which states that the digital assets of the state will be stored in safe accounts within a federal strategic Bitcoin reserve. This is if such a reserve is established by the Treasury Secretary of the US.