Arizona's Digital Asset Bill Roars Towards Final House Vote

Crypto Cash Stash One Step Closer to Reality

Arizona's Digital Asset Reserve bill is charging towards a final House vote after bulldozing through the Committee of the Whole. Buckle up, folks, because on April 17, State Bill 1373, aka the Strategic Digital Asset Reserve Bill, smashed through a preliminary review by the full House, inching closer to becoming law.

This beast of a bill, also known as the Strategic Digital Assets Reserve Bill, wants to create a fund stuffed with digital assets snatched from criminal proceedings. Picture this: the state treasurer, decked out in crypto gear, managing the fund and flexing the power to invest up to 10% of its total value in digital assets every fiscal year. But wait, there's more! The bill also lets the treasurer loan out the fund's holdings, as long as it doesn't crank up the financial risk profile.

Arizona is blazing a trail, folks, becoming one of the frontrunners in the race to set up a state-backed digital asset reserve, neck and neck with Texas and New Hampshire.

Bitcoin Bill and Crypto Crackdown

Back in March, SB 1373 steamrolled through the House Rules Committee, alongside SB 1025, Arizona's Bitcoin-only reserve proposal. While SB 1373 casts a wide net over digital assets, SB 1025 is laser-focused on Bitcoin, letting Arizona's treasury and retirement system throw up to 10% of their funds into BTC. And get this - it even includes a provision to stash Bitcoin in a segregated federal reserve account. That bill powered through the Committee of the Whole on April 1 and is now waiting to take its final vote.

But hold onto your hats, because these bills might crash into a brick wall at the governor's office. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, is throwing down the gauntlet, threatening to veto all legislation until lawmakers cough up a bill to fund disability services. She's not messing around, folks - Hobbs has already vetoed 15 bills this week alone and holds the highest rejection rate of any U.S. governor in 2024, blocking over 20% of all legislation, most of it led by those pesky Republicans.

In an April 17 post on X, Hobbs slammed the Republican-controlled legislature's funding proposal as "unserious and a complete nonstarter."

But Arizona's crypto strategy isn't stopping there. In February, lawmakers dropped House Bill 2387, a measure aimed at tackling Bitcoin ATM fraud head-on. This bill is packing some serious heat, with a daily transaction cap, mandatory operator licensing, and refund policy requirements to shield users from scams.