May 29 Update: The private donation provision has been stripped from SB 21 in conference committee after the Texas Senate declined to accept the House version of the bill.
The State of Texas is set to get into the cryptocurrency investment game as the Texas House passed a Senate bill on Wednesday to create a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” that could use millions of taxpayer dollars to purchase cryptocurrency.
Senate Bill 21 will—assuming the two chambers can reach a final agreement and the governor signs off—establish a new government investment fund through which the state comptroller and a team of appointed advisors have broad discretion to invest in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. The bill allows the state to appropriate funds from its coffers to finance those purchases.
