Texas has launched a state-based crypto reserve by purchasing $5 million U.S. worth of BlackRock's Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) exchange-traded fund (ETF).
The state has said it is in the final stages of establishing the “Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.”
Texas passed legislation earlier this year appropriating $10 million U.S. to fund the Bitcoin (BTC) reserve and has now deployed some of that capital buying BlackRock’s (BLK) ETF.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust is the largest and most popular of about a dozen ETFs that track the spot price of BTC.
Other U.S. states are following Texas’ lead, with Michigan and Wisconsin experimenting with funding public-employee pensions using cryptocurrencies.
New Hampshire and Arizona are in the process of launching cryptocurrency reserves.
While New Hampshire was first in the U.S. to pass crypto legislation, it's still working on its strategic Bitcoin reserve.
U.S. states are moving ahead of the federal government in Washington, D.C., which has stopped short of creating a Bitcoin reserve.
The Texas Blockchain Council congratulated the state government on social media for having “bought the dip” in Bitcoin, which is currently trading at $87,000 U.S., down from $126,000 U.S. in early October.
However, critics warn that state governments are taking dangerous risks by investing public money in crypto such as Bitcoin, especially the pension funds of public sector workers.
