New Hampshire & North Dakota: Further efforts for Bitcoin reserves

Following bills in Pennsylvania, Texas and Ohio for a Bitcoin reserve, the US states of New Hampshire and North Dakota are now following suit.

Although there is no explicit mention of a Bitcoin reserve in either case, the aim is to enable state funds to be invested in the asset.

Keith Ammon, Congressman of New Hampshire, has submitted a bill that would allow the US state to invest in Bitcoin and precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum.

Specifically, in addition to stablecoins, the purchase of cryptocurrencies that had an average market capitalization of more than USD 500 billion in the previous calendar year would be made possible. Bitcoin would currently be the only crypto asset to which this applies.

The respective allocations should not account for more than 10 percent of the state's funds. According to Keith Ammon, the aim of the bill is to ensure that New Hampshire is not left behind when it comes to Bitcoin.

The state that is last to build Bitcoin reserves will lose. It’s urgent that states act sooner than later, and that takes some education on the part of state officials.
_{Keith Ammon to decrypt}

In North Dakota, six congressmen and two senators have submitted a resolution to integrate "digital assets" and precious metals into the US state's investment strategy.

This is to counteract the fact that "inflation erodes the purchasing power of money held in state funds and affects the state's financial stability and economic security".

The state treasurer and the State Investment Board are responsible for protecting financial resources against the effects of inflation and other economic uncertainties, the resolution continues.

Based on this, the legislators suggest that digital assets and precious metals could be purchased with some of the state's money - without being more specific.

The Legislative Assembly encourages the State Treasurer and State Investment Board to invest a portion of the state general fund, budget stabilization fund, and legacy fund in digital assets and precious metals.
_{From the resolution}

Speaking to Medium decrypt, John Bjornson, director of the North Dakota Legislative Council, explained that the resolution is merely intended to encourage such investments. "It doesn't hold the force of law, so it doesn't include definitions about what those may include that would be something that would be more appropriate for a bill," Bjornson said.

After US President-elect Donald Trump promised to establish a Bitcoin reserve for the US during his election campaign, there have been similar calls in many places.

For example, the former German Finance Minister, Christian Lindner, has spoken out in favor of the European Central Bank and the Bundesbank dealing with "crypto reserves" - Blocktrainer.de reported.

However, a particularly decisive push can be seen in several US states. Whether and to what extent individual states will invest in Bitcoin will ultimately depend on whether the projects receive the necessary political support.