Nearly two dozen states across the country have introduced legislation this year to authorize state investments in digital assets — a move that mirrors the Trump administration’s embrace of crypto.
In 2025 thus far, 23 states have introduced legislation to allow public investments in crypto, with some bills specifically authorizing the state treasurer or state pension funds to invest in the asset class. Other bills focus on the creation of a state bitcoin reserve, often using some version of the name: “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act.”
The wave of state legislation comes “on the back end of potential national regulations that could provide some clarity,” said Adam Sporn, head of prime brokerage and U.S. institutional sales at BitGo, a crypto custody firm.
His first week in office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order establishing a working group on digital assets and instructed the group to put forth regulatory and legislative proposals on the issue. The group is led by venture capitalist David Sacks, who Trump recently named as the White House’s artificial intelligence and crypto czar, and is working with Congress to ultimately pass two bills: one creating a regulatory framework for digital assets more broadly and one focused on regulating stablecoins.
The president’s executive order also tasks the working group with evaluating “the potential creation and maintenance of a national digital asset stockpile,” and asks the group to propose criteria for establishing a digital asset reserve. Last year, Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., introduced a bill proposing the federal government create a strategic bitcoin reserve, but her legislation never moved.
Sporn said the recent wave of state bills are “a signal that public institutions are recognizing the long-term role of digital assets in diversified portfolios.”
However, there are likely a few factors contributing to the uptick in such legislation, according to Mark Hays, associate director of cryptocurrency and financial technology for the Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund and Demand Progress Education Fund.
One factor is "the crypto industry is not really satisfied with dominating federal politics" and wants to enact policies at the state level as well, and "we've seen that with state-level lobbying efforts by the crypto industry," Hays said.
The Satoshi Action Fund, a bitcoin advocacy organization, works with state lawmakers on advancing “model legislation,” according to Dennis Porter, the organization’s CEO and co-founder.
The objective of such legislation is to enable the state treasurer, state comptroller, or whomever has control over the state’s funds “to have the option, not the requirement, but the option, to be able to allocate into bitcoin,” Porter said, though he added the organization uses “digital asset” in its bill language to remain technology-neutral.
Hays said another factor likely driving state bills is that many crypto assets rely on excitement from buyers "to boost prices and generate interest."
“Targeting pension funds and state funds and basically giving them the green light (to invest in crypto)…is a way to ensure that there’s a steady stream of investor buy-in, a steady stream of liquidity, and that makes the number go up,” according to Hays.
State pension funds
The bills introduced in 23 states vary in what funds they affect, how the funds can invest in crypto, and whether they relate to a bitcoin reserve.
Notably, many of the bills do not say whether the state's pension funds are included in the "state funds" that would be able to invest in crypto.
The Satoshi Action Fund’s model legislation “is more focused on the funds that the treasurer oversees, particularly in the rainy-day fund area, less so on the pension side,” Porter said, but the organization works with treasurers “to pick which funds they believe are the right funds.”
Some bills put restrictions on how much the state can invest in digital assets, only allowing the state treasurer or state retirement system to invest up to 5% or 10% of their funds in crypto — Satoshi’s model legislation suggests a restriction of 10%, but some states choose 5% instead, Porter said.
Porter contended that bitcoin is “a very powerful tool for diversification,” and said that while Satoshi is more focused on state investments in crypto, “we certainly believe that the same justification applies for pensions.”.
However, “there’s no place for cryptocurrency” in a public pension plan, according to Mark Higgins, senior vice president and institutional advisor for IFA Institutional, a division of Index Fund Advisors.
“This is basically just gambling with taxpayer money,” Higgins said, contending that crypto is an “object of speculation.”
The fact that crypto industry advocates are working to pass legislation authorizing such investments suggests "they are aware that pension funds largely have been wary of investing in the stuff, with some notable exceptions," according to Hays.
After the SEC's approval of spot bitcoin ETFs and spot ether ETFs, a few pension funds started to invest in the exchange-traded products.
The State of Wisconsin Investment Board, Madison, owned about 6 million shares of iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, valued at about $321 million as of Dec. 31, according to the board’s most recent 13F holdings report filed with the SEC. SWIB previously invested nearly $100 million in the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF back in May, according to their 13F holdings report filed May 14.
The State of Michigan Retirement System held 460,000 shares of the Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF, valued at about $10.1 million, and 460,000 shares of the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF, valued at about $1.1 million, according to the retirement system’s 13F holdings report for the quarter ended Sept. 30.
Here’s a list of states that have introduced legislation this year to allow state investments in crypto:
