In brief
- New Hampshire signed a bill into law Tuesday that will enable the state to stockpile Bitcoin.
- It’s the first U.S. state to sign such a bill into law, although several more are working on their own respective bills.
- Rep. Keith Ammon described the initiative to Decrypt as a “hedge against inflation” for the state.
New Hampshire is officially on its way towards establishing a Bitcoin reserve, as Governor Kelly Ayotte signed bill HB 302 into law on Tuesday.
“New Hampshire is once again first in the nation!” Ayotte wrote on X. ” Just signed a new law allowing our state to invest in cryptocurrency and precious metals.”
Introduced in January, the bill allows the New Hampshire state treasurer to invest up to 5% of public funds in precious metals like gold or silver, or digital assets that averaged a market cap of at least $500 billion in the last calendar year. Based on that criteria, Bitcoin is the only digital asset the state could add.
“If the federal government managed the dollar better, we wouldn’t need to be considering these things. But inflation is eating our lunch,” sponsor Representative Keith Ammon told Decrypt. “And this is one little way our state could hedge against inflation in the future.”
The New England state’s treasury held just more than $3.62 billion at the end of 2024, according to its unaudited 2024 annual report. If the treasurer chooses to invest all 5% or around $181 million in Bitcoin, it could gain exposure to 1,194 BTC based on the current price.
The bill indicates that exposure to the top crypto asset can be held directly by the treasury via a secure custody solution, on behalf of the state by a qualified custodian, or through an exchange-traded product issued by a regulated investment company.
To start though, the state will likely lean on a Bitcoin ETF.
“It would probably be like a Fidelity ETF that they would hold,” Ammon said of the state’s treasurer. “I don’t know if they’re comfortable with self-custody at this point.”
New Hampshire is the first state to sign such a bill into law, but is among numerous states that have been making a legislative push to establish a Bitcoin and/or cryptocurrency reserve. Some states have already fallen short of that ambition, with Arizona’s governor Katie Hobbs recently vetoing a bill that made it all the way to her desk.
President Trump issued an executive order in March establishing a national strategic Bitcoin reserve for the United States, along with a separate digital assets stockpile for other cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin is flat over the last 24 hours and is trading at $94,575. It remains around 13% off its January all-time high of $108,786.
Additional reporting by André Beganski
Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication with additional details.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
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