Texas governor signs Bitcoin reserve bill into law

Key Takeaways

Texas has established a Bitcoin reserve as a part of its monetary technique.
The reserve requires Bitcoin to have maintained a mean market cap of $500 billion over 24 months.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed Senate Invoice 21 (SB 21) into regulation, paving the way in which for the state to determine a Bitcoin reserve as a part of its monetary technique.

With this transfer, Texas turns into the third state within the US to undertake Bitcoin as a strategic asset, becoming a member of New Hampshire and Arizona, the primary two states to go Bitcoin-focused payments.

Authored by Senator Charles Schwertner, SB 21, often known as “The Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act,” goals to allow the institution of a Bitcoin reserve exterior the state treasury that the state comptroller will handle.

The reserve is designed to permit the state to spend money on Bitcoin and different qualifying crypto belongings as a hedge in opposition to inflation, financial volatility, and to reinforce general monetary resilience.

Nevertheless, below the regulation, the belongings should preserve a mean market capitalization of at the least $500 billion over the earlier 24 months. As of now, solely Bitcoin meets this criterion. Bitcoin presently sits at over $2 trillion in market valuation, per CoinGecko knowledge.

The second-largest crypto asset, Ethereum, presently has a market cap of round $277 billion. Whereas it doesn’t but meet the $500 billion 24-month common required by SB 21, it might qualify for inclusion within the reserve if its market cap rises over time.

The laws additionally authorizes the formation of a five-member advisory committee to information the reserve’s administration, together with the comptroller and three crypto funding consultants. The comptroller can contract with certified custodians for safe storage and liquidity suppliers with at the least 5 years’ digital asset buying and selling expertise.

Earlier than being signed into regulation, the invoice handed the Texas Senate with 25 votes in favor and 5 in opposition to, whereas the Home accredited it with 9 votes in favor and 4 opposed. The regulation is predicted to take impact on September 1, 2025.

Texas Governor already expressed assist for a invoice earlier than approving it. Abbott shared an article about Texas’ transfer to determine a Bitcoin reserve on X on Might 22, signaling that he would finally give it a nod.

Governor Abbott additionally signed HB 4488, a companion invoice that shields the Bitcoin reserve from periodic treasury fund sweeps and affirms its authorized standing even when no Bitcoin is bought by summer time 2025.

Texas Strikes to Set up Strategic Bitcoin Reserve: A New Period in State Finance.

by way of @techstoryin https://t.co/e5utsSzDfI

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) May 23, 2025