In brief
- Texas is seeking to become the second U.S. state to formally adopt a Bitcoin reserve.
- The bipartisan bill has passed all legislative hurdles, barring a final concurrence vote.
- Lawmakers voted 101-42, reflecting a strong but not unanimous bipartisan support.
The Texas House of Representatives has passed landmark legislation seeking to establish a Bitcoin reserve on its third and final reading on Wednesday, moving the state closer to officially adopting crypto as part of its treasury management.
Senate Bill 21, a bipartisan-backed bill, garnered strong support across party lines. It now awaits a concurrence vote on House amendments before heading to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk to be signed into law.
Opposition to the bill had been mounting in the lead-up to its final reading, demonstrating that bipartisan support was not unanimous. On Tuesday, the bill cleared a second reading following amendments, tallying votes at 105 for and 23 against.
For the third reading, those against it had grown to 42, according to unofficial totals released by the House.
Record of the final vote has not yet been certified by the House Journal Clerk and is currently published “for informational purposes only,” the Texas legislature’s website notes, citing the House’s rules and procedures.
It’s worth mentioning that the fiscal impact of the bill “cannot be estimated,” at the moment, according to a Senate amendment note from Jerry McGinty, director of the state’s legislative budget board.
“It is unknown what appropriations would be made for the reserve and the amount and value of qualifying cryptocurrency that would be purchased,” McGinty said, adding that his analysis assumes that any administrative costs “incurred by the Comptroller” could then be “absorbed using proceeds from the reserve.”
Decrypt reached out to the legislative budget board of Texas for comment.
Authored by Senator Charles Schwertner and sponsored in the House by Representative Giovanni Capriglione, the bill opens and supports the establishment and administration of a strategic Bitcoin reserve for the state.
It outlines provisions for investing in crypto and mandates the investment authority of the state’s comptroller over the reserve and other funds.
Once enacted, Texas will become the second U.S. state, after New Hampshire, to maintain reserves in Bitcoin.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair
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