Arizona’s bid to become a pioneer in integrating Bitcoin into its financial strategy has hit a roadblock. The state’s House narrowly passed Senate Bill 1025, also known as the “Arizona Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act,” which aimed to establish Bitcoin holdings within Arizona’s official reserves.
The legislation would have allowed state officials to manage a digital assets reserve funded through seized monies, but it was vetoed by Governor Katie Hobbs. In her statement, Hobbs expressed concern over the lack of bipartisan consensus on disability funding, citing that Arizonans’ retirement funds should not be used for untested investments like virtual currency.
The bill’s collapse marks a setback for efforts to adopt digital assets at the state level, with similar proposals in other states like Oklahoma and Montana failing to gain traction. However, North Carolina is advancing with a more measured approach, passing the Digital Assets Investment Act which would allow the treasurer to allocate up to 5% of select funds into approved cryptocurrencies.
The stalled efforts echo a broader narrative playing out at the federal level, where former President Donald Trump and key Republican allies have advocated for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Despite an executive order issued in March, market sentiment remains skeptical about rapid federal adoption, as reflected in Polymarket data showing zero confidence that such a reserve would materialize within Trump’s first 100 days.
Source: https://ambcrypto.com/what-caused-arizonas-bitcoin-bill-to-collapse-just-as-momentum-was-building