Missouri Bitcoin Reserve Fund: Will HB 1217 Shift State Investment Strategies?

• Missouri’s House Bill 1217 proposes the creation of a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Fund, managed by the state treasurer for long-term investment.
• The bill mandates Missouri government agencies to accept cryptocurrency for payments like taxes, fees, and fines, with payers covering transaction costs.
• Missouri’s Bitcoin bill follows Utah’s lead, as both states explore adding BTC to state reserves with other states, like Arizona and Wyoming, considering similar moves.

Missouri’s representative Ben Keathley recently introduced House Bill 1217, a bill to establish a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Fund. Introduced on February 6, the bill seeks the expansion of investment options with the Missouri state adding Bitcoin. The proposal would legalize the ability of the state treasurer to accept, manage and custody BTC to some extent.

Bitcoin Fund Custody and Management

This bill defines that the state treasurer would be the custodian of the fund that would be in Bitcoin. This could also afford the fund get funds through the sale of BTC given by the government and/or individuals within Missouri. Further, the bill mandates government departments in Missouri to accept cryptocurrencies for, among others, taxes, fees, and fines. Nevertheless, one paying through the cryptocurrency would have to incur the cost of the transactions.

This is one of the main points of the bill, which introduced the concept of long-term storage of Bitcoin . But, it was emphasized that the state treasurer must retain any acquired Bitcoin for not less than five years. This strategy is to look at BTC as some long-term investment to enable the state shield itself from inflation or even changes of denomination of the fiat currency.

If there will be passage of the House Bill 1217 it will take effect on August 28. Although the bill has only had its first reading and no second reading is pending at the moment it is an indicator of Missouri’s desire to incorporate BTC into the state’s budget. If this bill will pass, the state will be among the increasing list of U.S. states that are pursuing similar bills.

Utah’s Bitcoin Legislation Progress

This bill was proposed following the state of Utah’s advancement in its own Bitcoin legislation plan. On Jan 21, Utah’s House Bill 230 was proposed by Rep. Jordan Teuscher and has already passed the house and is on its way to Senate. This bill specifically enables the state treasurer in Utah the ability to invest up to 5% of lawfully mandated fund in BTC and other cryptocurrencies.

Of the 50 states in the United States, 17 have so far started to consider BTC reserves as of February 7 based on information obtained from bitcoinlaws.io. Utah is the most advanced with a bill that has only one more step to go through. Other states, particularly Arizona, Kentucky, New Hampshire, and Wyoming, are also considering adopting similar policies to invest in BTC.

Such a proposal has been recently introduced and passed in the Missouri state which proves that there is a present trend in the utilization of BTC at the state level as an investment instrument. It could potentially deepen the use of the cryptocurrency in the state’s finances, which could be an indication of the rising use of digital assets in governments’ investment portfolios.