Bitcoin Gets a Boost as Arizona Legislature Backs Adoption Efforts
The Arizona Legislature passed two bills on Monday that could lead to the creation of the first Bitcoin reserve in the United States.
The bills are now being pushed by Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs. They are similar to the policies that President Donald Trump has put in place across the country.
Under both plans, the state would be able to put up to 10% of its public funds into digital assets like bitcoin. Both were pushed by Republicans and mostly passed by the House and Senate along party lines. An audit done in 2023 showed that Arizona’s state-owned assets are worth more than $30 billion.
If Hobbs signs them into law, Arizona will be the first state to have its own coin reserve. Hobbs has the right to veto bills, which means they will not be passed.
Wendy Rogers, a Republican state senator who sponsored one of the bills, says Hobbs should sign off on the plan. Rogers said, “Crypto and bitcoin have a huge following in Arizona and across the country.” Rogers said, “They are very popular with young people and singles.” He also said, “I hope she signs it because she can take credit and look good.”
When Trump announced a “strategic crypto reserve” in March, he said on social media that the reserve would include less well-known, more volatile coins along with bitcoin. This made some cryptocurrency supporters angry.
A Republican political consultant from Phoenix named Barrett Marson says that GOP politicians in Arizona are following Trump’s lead.
Marson says that Republicans in Arizona are very aware of what Trump is doing and are always looking for ways to do the same thing in their state.
Marson said that he thinks the unpredictable nature of cryptocurrency will likely be taken into account, but he doesn’t know if Hobbs will sign the laws or not.
“When Gov. Hobbs decides whether to sign or veto this effort, she will definitely think about how volatile bitcoin can be,” he said.
Rogers doesn’t care, though. Before she said that bitcoin is a “hedge against inflation,” she said, “I don’t worry about how volatile bitcoin is because if you look at all the charts together, it always goes up in value.”
“I can’t say anything about the other cryptocurrencies because they need to be looked at individually,” she said.