DALLAS, Texas – On Thursday, Texas representative Giovanni Capriglione unveiled a new bill to create a strategic bitcoin reserve in the Lone Star state to fight “inflation and economic volatility.” The program will allow Texas to accumulate cryptocurrency in the state treasury by accepting bitcoin-denominated donations, taxes, or fees, which must remain untouched for a minimum of five years before they can be sold or moved.
“No taxpayer funds will be spent on buying bitcoin in order to maximize the chances of the bill passing,” said Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council. “The bitcoin will come from donations from Texans, U.S. based companies, and other sources of existing state resources.”
“The state’s financial goals are why a bitcoin reserve makes sense in the eighth-largest economy in the world,” Kadan Stadelmann, Komodo Platform’s Chief Technology Officer, told TheStreet Crypto about the proposal. “Texas is looking to become a global financial powerhouse, and towards this end, it has previously made the decision to launch the Texas Stock Exchange, which opens next year in Dallas.”
Among other benefits, Stadelmann emphasized that the reserve would enable Texas — home to over 30 million people — to develop its own bitcoin strategy, similar to those of countries like Bhutan and El Salvador.
“After all is said and done, it won’t be the stock exchange that places Texas at the center of the financial universe,” Stadelmann said, “but rather its leadership on the bitcoin reserve and related bitcoin matters.”
The Texas legislature is scheduled to convene in January, but the bitcoin strategic reserve bill must undergo a committee referral, public hearing, debate, and vote before it can be passed by both chambers of the legislature and sent to Governor Greg Abbott for approval. “Texas should want to be early and do it now,” Stadelmann said about the timeline. “With a quickening of bitcoin adoption, Texas will be forced to move forward at some point with a bitcoin reserve bill, whether now or in the future, as nation-states and other U.S. states establish their own reserves.”
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