North Carolina lawmakers propose bill to allow state investments in crypto

North Carolina Speaker of the House Destin Hall has filed a bill that proposes authorizing the State Treasurer to invest in “qualifying digital assets,” joining over a dozen other U.S. states that are pursuing similar bills.

The bill, HB92, intends to allow the treasurer to diversify the state’s portfolio by investing in crypto assets such as bitcoin. However, such crypto assets have been described as "exchange-traded products" with a minimum average market capitalization of $750 billion over the preceding 12 months, a criterion that currently only bitcoin meets.

The proposed legislation — co-sponsored by Representatives Stephen Ross, Mark Brody and Mike Schietzelt — also stipulates that the crypto investment must not exceed 10% of the balance of the fund. 

“Investing in digital assets like Bitcoin not only has the potential to generate positive yields for our state investment fund but also positions North Carolina as a leader in technological adoption and innovation,” Hall said in a statement on Monday.

In a separate X post, Hall wrote that the “North Carolina Digital Assets Investments Act” aligns with U.S. President Donald Trump’s vision for “a national bitcoin stockpile” and ensures that “North Carolina leads at the state level.”

Over a dozen other U.S. states have also introduced similar acts. Representatives from states including Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Oklahoma have recently pushed to build bitcoin reserves in their respective states.

Bitcoin has become an investment project among lawmakers in US states, especially after pro-crypto Trump took office in January. The world’s largest crypto gained 1.1% in the past 24 hours to trade at $98,351 at the time of writing, according to The Block’s price page.