North Dakota Sees Crypto Reserve as State BTC Treasuries Gain Momentum

North Dakota is the latest US state to consider adding Bitcoin to its balance sheets. On Friday, the North Dakota state legislature introduced a resolution aimed at investing “select state funds in digital assets and precious metals.”

Resolution 3001 aims to curb the impact of inflation on North Dakota’s finances by diversifying the assets in which the state invests. North Dakota Representatives Nathan Toman, Matthew Heilman, Jared Hendrix, Daniel Johnston, SuAnn Olson and Todd Porter, along with Senators Jeff Barta and Bob Paulson introduced the resolution.

“Whereas changing economic conditions and emerging investment opportunities require a prudent investment of the state’s financial resources,” the resolution said.

If passed, the North Dakota Legislative Assembly would direct the State Treasurer and Investment Board to allocate portions of key state funds to investments in digital assets. While the resolution did encourage investment in digital assets, Bitcoin was not specifically mentioned.

Also Friday, legislation was introduced in New Hampshire for a state Bitcoin reserve, and while that bill also did not mention Bitcoin by name, Bitcoin would be the only coin eligible for the New Hampshire reserve based on market cap determinations. However, the North Dakota resolution does not use the same criteria.

“The resolution simply encourages the State Treasurer and the State Investment Board to look at investing in different types of assets instead of what they are currently doing,” John Bjornson, director of the North Dakota Legislative Council, told reporters. Declutter. “It does not have the force of law, so it does not contain definitions of what these might entail, something that would be more appropriate for a bill.”

Resolution 3001 is expected to be put to a vote on Tuesday, but until then the move is mainly symbolic. Other states considering strategic Bitcoin reserves include Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Hampshire. In September, Louisiana began accepting payments for services using Bitcoin and the USDC stablecoin.

“The last state to build Bitcoin reserves will lose,” New Hampshire Rep. Keith Ammon said Declutter earlier Friday. “There is an urgent need for states to act as quickly as possible, and that requires some knowledge on the part of state officials.”

Edited by Andrew Hayward