More than 30 U.S. states have explored the idea of publicly funded Bitcoin reserves, with at least two jurisdictions nearing the passage of related legislation.
Cynthia Lummis, a Republican senator from Wyoming and the chair of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets, stated at the New York Bitcoin Investor Week that policymakers in Washington have not reached a consensus on federal regulations that would establish a Bitcoin reserve.
Although not all lawmakers favor the concept of state-run Bitcoin reserves, the states of Utah and Arizona have proposed using public monies to purchase Bitcoin. Since the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States, the states of Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming, where Lummis resides, have all rejected Bitcoin reserve measures.
With approximately one hundred billion dollars in institutional Bitcoin adoption through exchange-traded funds on Wall Street, lawmakers in these states have expressed their worries regarding cryptocurrency speculation and the risks associated with digital assets.
Within the Senate, Lummis presented a bill that put forth the idea of the Federal Reserve exchanging a portion of its gold reserves for Bitcoin. The bill, if it were to become law, would mandate that the United States government acquire up to five percent of the total quantity of Bitcoin over a period of five years.
An artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency czar named David Sacks issued a statement at the White House in the beginning of February, in which he reinforced President Trump’s interest in establishing a national Bitcoin reserve.
On the other hand, he admitted that the development was still in its preliminary phases and that examination of the idea was now continuing. Lummis had similar remarks in New York on February 28. Lummis stated, “We don’t have enough comfortable people in the House and Senate to do this yet.”
Stablecoins are likely to serve as the foundation for digital asset systems. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have introduced proposals that would standardize the regulations governing stablecoins.
During the first session of the Senate Banking subcommittee, which was devoted to the process of establishing rules for cryptocurrencies, both senators and industry professionals reached a consensus that stablecoin laws should be a priority.
