On March 6, the Texas Senate passed the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Bill SB-21 by a vote of 25 to 5. Texas State Senator Charles Schwertner, who proposed the bill, defended it in the chamber, stating that it would help Texas strengthen its balance sheet with a valuable and scarce asset. He remarked:
“We no longer stack dollar bills or safes like in the Middle Ages. What we have is digital currency.”
Supporting legislators also alleviated concerns about Bitcoin directly competing with the dollar as a global reserve currency, arguing that Bitcoin is more akin to gold, serving as a hedge against inflation. Charles Schwertner added that the intervention and manipulation of the money supply by central authorities, through the ability to print money, leads to a decline in the value and purchasing power of the dollar, and this monetary inflation has weakened people’s confidence in the dollar.
Subsequently, SB-21 needs to be submitted to the Texas House of Representatives, where the bill will be assigned to the relevant committee for review, modification, and hearings. After passing both the House and Senate, the bill must also be sent to the Texas Governor for signature to become law. If SB-21 ultimately takes effect, Texas will become the first state in the U.S. to establish a strategic reserve for digital assets.
Progress of Bitcoin Reserve Bills in U.S. States
The bill was initially introduced in January, limited to Bitcoin, without mentioning the acquisition of other digital assets. However, by February, the bill was resubmitted, expanding the purchasable targets to include other digital assets. According to statistics from bitcoinreservemonitor, a total of 35 states in the U.S. have submitted Bitcoin or cryptocurrency strategic reserve bills, but as of now, proposals from 5 states have failed to advance.
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