Missouri lawmakers advance revived Bitcoin strategic reserve bill to committee

Missouri lawmakers have advanced a strategic Bitcoin reserve bill that would allow the state treasurer to “accept gifts, grants, donations, bequests, or devises of bitcoin from eligible Missouri residents or a governmental entity.”

House Bill 2080 was introduced by Rep. Ben Keathley last month, was subsequently referred to the House Commerce Committee on Feb. 19, and is now pending a committee Hearing.

According to official documents, the bill seeks to establish a “Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Fund” funded primarily by “gifts, grants, donations, bequests, or devises of bitcoin,” but also includes a provision allowing the state treasurer to “invest, purchase, and hold cryptocurrency using state funds.”

All funds received would be stored in cold storage and held for at least five years “from the date that the bitcoin enters the state’s custody”, after which the bitcoin “may be transferred, sold, appropriated, or converted to another cryptocurrency.”

The treasurer can contract with a qualified, independent, United States-based third-party cryptocurrency entity to assist in the creation, maintenance, operation, and administration of the fund’s security, and would be required to publish a biennial report.

Once the bill clears the House Commerce Committee, it will be forwarded to the full House chamber, where it will have to be debated and approved by a majority vote before it may be passed and sent to the Senate for committee review, floor consideration, and a final vote.

HB 2080 is a successor to HB 1217, introduced early last year by Rep. Ben Keathley, with the only notable difference being that it has been referred to the House Commerce Committee instead of the Special Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs, where it previously stalled and ultimately died in committee.

If passed, Missouri will join Texas, New Hampshire, and Arizona in advancing state-level Bitcoin reserve frameworks, out of which Texas and New Hampshire allow direct public fund investments, while Arizona’s law restricts the reserve to Bitcoin acquired through seized and forfeited assets rather than new taxpayer allocations.