New Hampshire, North Dakota Move Toward Strategic Digital Assets Reserve

Two more states are considering the feasibility of investing some state funds into digital assets, marking a significant milestone in the Bitcoin community's push for the United States to adopt a strategic BTC reserve.

If the proposed bills to establish digital asset reserves in the states pass, they will be among the first-movers in the country even before the new administration under Donald Trump establishes a national strategic Bitcoin reserve.

New Hampshire Representative Unveils Digital Assets Reserve Act

Republican New Hampshire Rep. Keith Ammon of the 40^th District has introduced a bill that proposes giving authority to the state treasury "to invest in precious metals and digital assets," as per a copy of the bill posted on X by Dennis Porter, CEO of Satoshi Action Fund, a nonprofit that has been encouraging governments to adopt a Bitcoin reserve strategy.

The bill's text proposes that the state treasurer be enabled to allocate some public funds to "any digital asset with a market capitalization of over $500 billion averaged over the previous calendar year."

Notably, Bitcoin is the only digital asset that has passed this requirement. Other major altcoins such as Ethereum (ETH) and XRP have had good performances in 2024, but they did not hit the said market cap threshold.

"The ethos in New Hampshire is 'Live Free or Die' – leave me alone, and don't burden me with too many regulations," Ammon told Decrypt.

"We're tied to the U.S. dollar, whether we like it or not, but this would allow us to have the state invest a small portion into this uncorrelated, new asset class," he added.

North Dakota Introduces Resolution for Digital Asset Reserve

After New Hampshire's bill took the media's eye, North Dakota's State Legislature also introduced a resolution that seeks to encourage the state treasurer and State Investment Board "to invest selected state funds in digital assets and precious metals."

In particular, the state's Legislative Assembly is encouraging the two authorities to invest part of the "state general fund, budget stabilization fund, and legacy fund" in digital assets and precious metals."

The proposal didn't specify which digital assets the Assembly would recommend, but at least based on what the resolution says is the state treasurer and State Investment Board's responsibility to safeguard North Dakota's financial resources against inflation and "other economic uncertainties," the assets should at least have a more stable status than other digital assets.

States Take Steps Toward $BTC Reserve Amid Wait for Trump 2.0

Since Trump won the 2024 presidential race, there have been talks about a national strategic Bitcoin reserve. However, some analysts have pointed out that it will take time for such a proposal to come together.

Seemingly unwilling to wait for a nationwide reserve, some states have already made the move toward establishing their own BTC reserves.

Pennsylvania leads the pack after GOP Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Cabell introduced a bill on the said vision in November, making Pennsylvania the first U.S. state to consider investing in Bitcoin for reserve purposes.

Texas followed suit about a month later, as introduced by GOP Texas Rep. Giovanni Capriglione. Notably, the proposed legislation requires Texas to "HODL" its Bitcoin purchases for a mandatory period of five years.