Utah’s bitcoin reserve bill advances to Senate standing committee

Utah has moved a step closer to potentially allowing the state treasurer to invest public funds in bitcoin, as its “Blockchain and Digital Innovation Amendments” bill progressed to a Senate standing committee on Tuesday.

The “H.B. 230” bill passed the House in an 8-1 vote last month and was moved to the Senate on Feb. 7 for the first reading. It was then referred to the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee on Tuesday, according to the official bill tracker.

The bill, proposed by Utah Representative Jordan Teuscher on Jan. 21, aims to authorize the state treasurer to allocate up to 5% of public funds for investment in “qualifying digital assets.” These include crypto assets with an average market cap of over $500 billion over the preceding 12 months or a stablecoin.

Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $1.9 trillion, while the second largest crypto, ether, has about $322 billion in market cap.

The proposed legislation is set to take effect on May 7, 2025, if enacted.

“While Utah is the 11th state to introduce similar legislation, we will be the first to pass it,” Rep. Teuscher wrote on X on Jan. 21.

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 U.S. states, especially after pro-crypto Trump took office in January. The world’s largest crypto lost 0.9% in the past 24 hours to trade at $95,178 at the time of writing, according to The Block’s price page.