New Hampshire Becomes First State to Pass Cryptocurrency Reserve Law
Governor Kelly Ayotte signed a bill allowing some state funds to be invested in precious metals and cryptocurrency.
Jesse Hamilton | Edited by Nikhilesh De Updated May 6, 2025, 8:39 PM Published May 6, 2025, 5:25 PM
What you need to know:
- New Hampshire has won the race among states seeking to pass laws allowing public funds to be invested in cryptocurrency reserves.
- Similar efforts have recently met with setbacks in states such as Arizona and Florida.
- New Hampshire can now allocate up to 5% of its state funds to purchasing Bitcoin.
New Hampshire became the first state to allow public funds to be invested in crypto assets, with the governor signing a new law on Tuesday.
The state has leapfrogged several others this year as an initial surge of activity among legislators has run into trouble in recent weeks. By being the first to authorize its treasurer to create such a reserve, New Hampshire could leapfrog the federal government in stockpiling.
“New Hampshire is back at number one in the nation,” New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte, a Republican in her first year in office, wrote on the social media site X.
New Hampshire's bill would allow up to 5% of state funds to be invested in a digital asset with a market capitalization of at least $500 billion. Bitcoin (BTC) is currently the only asset that meets this criteria.
Rep. Keith Ammon, the bill's sponsor, told CoinDesk that the new law “supports financial innovation and promotes diversification of state investments to mitigate inflation caused by the federal government's endless money printing.”
He also expressed gratitude to the Satoshi Action Fund for helping establish the state as a “first mover” in the digital asset space.
“We’re incredibly excited about the victory that we had in New Hampshire,” said Dennis Porter, founder of the Satoshi Action Fund, which is urging state legislators across the country to create reserves. He hopes other states will follow suit, he told CoinDesk.
“The first one is the hardest, by far,” Porter added. “Having a state that has already done it will really create political momentum.”
New Hampshire House Republicans also released a statement on Tuesday boasting that their state has “OFFICIALLY become the first state to establish a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve.”
Arizona was the first state to introduce a similar measure to its governor, but the bill was rejected, though other bills are still pending before the governor. Florida has also suspended its efforts, joining a number of other states where the reservation movement has failed. However, North Carolina remains a strong contender, as its initiatives are backed by a prominent legislator.
President Donald Trump has called on his administration to create its own Bitcoin reserve and a separate cryptocurrency hoard, though the Treasury Department is still reviewing what funds the federal government has that could be redeployed to these potential
Источник
