Utah leading state to approve a strategic Bitcoin reserve

Utah could be the first state to pass legislation establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve, potentially setting a national precedent. With at least fifteen states across the United States considering the option this year — among them Wyoming, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Illinois, Ohio, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Texas— Utah stands out as the frontrunner, according to the Satoshi Action Fund.

“We firmly believe that Utah will be the very first state to introduce this legislation,” Dennis Porter, CEO of Satoshi Action Fund, told media recently.

“It’s either sink or swim in 45 days,” added Porter. “No one else has a faster calendar [than Utah], and no one else has more political momentum and willpower to get it done,” he said.

On January 28, a Utah House committee voted to push forward the bill.

The Satoshi Action Fund, a pro-Bitcoin advocacy group, has sent more than 3,300 letters to Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Congress urging them to include bitcoin in a national stockpile.

Proponents of a strategic bitcoin reserve cite its potential for providing economic stability, protection from inflation, stabilization of the U.S. dollar during economic downturns, diversification of U.S. government holdings, and its potential to deliver high returns.

Critics, however, underline the risks of relying on historically volatile Bitcoin as a reserve asset, Bitcoin’s concentration of ownership among small groups of whales and miners, and market disruption when governments pursue large Bitcoin purchases.

U.S. states are not alone in mulling a strategic Bitcoin reserve. At the federal level, President Donald Trump pledged to create a national stockpile of digital assets at last year’s national Bitcoin conference. His administration is currently evaluating a stockpile plan, but has not formally launched one or promised it would only contain Bitcoin.

Meanwhile, last year Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis unveiled the BITCOIN Act , which seeks to establish a national Bitcoin reserve. The senator has received substantial financial support from the crypto industry to advance pro-Bitcoin legislation.

Other countries are also weighing the option, with the Czech Republic recently discussing a possible plan to invest up to 5% the country’s reserves in the world’s top digital asset.