Florida Jumps into the Bitcoin Frenzy: State Funds Could Soon Go Crypto!

Sunshine State Makes Historic Move to Embrace Bitcoin

Florida's just thrown its hat into the Bitcoin ring, folks, diving headfirst into the wild world of crypto alongside frontrunners Arizona and hot-on-their-heels New Hampshire. This is no small potatoes—this is the Sunshine State stepping boldly into the future of finance!

Hold onto your hats! Florida's pushing forward with Bitcoin like it's the next big thing in state assets. On April 10, House Bill 487—or HB 487 for short—stormed through the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee with a unanimous cheer. This bill ain't messing around; it's all about turning Bitcoin into a strategic reserve asset for the state.

This game-changer, dubbed "Investments of Public Funds in Bitcoin," gives Florida's Chief Financial Officer and State Board of Administration the green light to dive up to 10% of juicy public funds—including the General Revenue Fund and Budget Stabilization Fund—straight into the Bitcoin pool. But wait, there's more! It comes with a whole playbook of tight security, custody, and compliance rules. Plus, the state's Bitcoin stash could be loaned out or tossed into exchange-traded products. Talk about a power move!

HB 487 has just aced its first of four committee challenges, but it's not stopping there. It's gotta hustle through the Government Operations Subcommittee, the Ways & Means Committee, and the Commerce Committee before it can strut into the full House for a vote. If it nails that, it'll sashay over to the Senate and, fingers crossed, land on the governor's desk for the final stamp of approval.

And guess what? Florida's not alone in this crypto craze. It's part of a bigger, wilder trend of U.S. states getting all hot and bothered over Bitcoin as a sovereign asset class.

Arizona's been sprinting ahead in this legislative marathon. By late March, its Senate Bills 1373 and 1025, both about setting up digital asset reserves, blazed through the Senate and high-fived their way past the House Rules Committee. They're now gearing up for a full House showdown. If they win that race, all they need is Governor Katie Hobbs' signature to turn Arizona into the first state with an official Bitcoin reserve policy. Boom!

Not to be outdone, New Hampshire's thrown its own Bitcoin reserve bill, HB 302, into the ring. It just clinched a 192-179 victory in the full House and is now strutting its stuff under Senate scrutiny. This bill lets the state treasurer funnel up to 10% of their funds into Bitcoin and shiny precious metals, but only if those assets have a market cap over $500 billion—which, right now, is Bitcoin's exclusive club.