Arizona’s crypto reserve bill Heads to Final House Vote

Arizona’s Digital Asset Reserve bill is heading to a final House vote after clearing the Committee of the Whole.

On April 17, Arizona’s State Bill 1373, also referred to as the Strategic Digital Asset Reserve Bill, moved one step closer to becoming law after being approved by the full House in a preliminary review.

SB 1373, also known as the Strategic Digital Assets Reserve Bill, proposes the creation of a fund composed of digital assets seized in criminal proceedings. 

The state treasurer would manage the fund and be authorised to invest up to 10% of its total value in digital assets per fiscal year. It also includes a provision that allows the treasurer to loan out the fund’s holdings, provided the action does not increase the fund’s financial risk profile.

Its current progress makes Arizona one of the leading states in the race to establish a state-backed digital asset reserve, alongside Texas and New Hampshire.

As previously reported by crypto.news, SB 1373 cleared the House Rules Committee on March 25, alongside SB 1025, the state’s Bitcoin-only reserve proposal.

While SB 1373 covers digital assets broadly, SB 1025 focuses solely on Bitcoin and permits Arizona’s treasury and retirement system to allocate up to 10% of available funds into BTC.

It also includes a provision to store Bitcoin in a segregated federal reserve account. That bill passed the Committee of the Whole on April 1 and is still awaiting a final vote.

However, both bills could hit a wall at the governor’s office. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has threatened to veto all legislation until lawmakers pass a bill to fund disability services.

However, both bills could hit a wall at the governor’s office. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, has pledged to veto all legislation until lawmakers pass a bill to address a $122 million shortfall in funding for the state’s Division of Developmental Disabilities.

In an April 17 post on X, Hobbs criticised the Republican-controlled legislature’s funding proposal as “unserious and a complete nonstarter.”

She has already vetoed 15 bills this week and holds the highest rejection rate of any U.S. governor in 2024, having blocked over 20% of all legislation so far, most of it Republican-led.

Arizona’s broader crypto strategy also includes a February measure aimed at curbing Bitcoin ATM fraud. In February, lawmakers presented House Bill 2387 to implement measures such as a daily transaction cap, mandatory operator licensing, and refund policy requirements to safeguard users from scams.