North Carolina House Passes Bill Allowing State Treasurer to Invest in Cryptocurrencies

The bill was approved with a 71 to 44 vote. This result places North Carolina second to Arizona in fully approving a crypto law.

North Carolina's House of Representatives has passed a bill that would allow the state treasurer to invest in cryptocurrencies. The bill, which was approved by a vote of 71 to 44, places North Carolina second in line to Arizona in fully approving a crypto law this year.

The state is currently seeing a wave of bills that would allow or mandate the use of public funds for crypto. After passing the House, the bill will now move to the Senate for another vote.

The House passed the Digital Assets Investment Act, also called House Bill 92, which permits up to 5% of public funds to be allocated to cryptocurrencies. The legislation dictates that a third party must ascertain whether the investment meets standards regarding secure custody, risk assessment, and regulatory compliance.

The House also passed the State Investment Modernization Act, House Bill 506, with a vote of 110 to 3. This bill proposes the creation of a new North Carolina Investment Authority (NCIA) that would take over the treasury's responsibilities, including making crypto investments if the third-party regulator deems them suitable.

House Bill 92 was initially capped at 10% investment for cryptocurrency, but the current amendment has reduced that allocation in half. Many politicians who oppose the bill suggest that the allocation will gamble away the state retirement funds. They advise legislators to invest their money in crypto and leave taxpayers to make their own investment decisions.

At one stage during the debate, Democrat Marcia Morey held up a printed picture of a Bored Ape NFT that Justin Bieber bought for $1.3 million, which inevitably lost 95% of its value, to highlight the many risks inherent to digital assets. However, despite these elaborate protestations, the House passed the bill, albeit with several measures to limit the amount of risk exposure to public funds.

State workers, moreover, raised complaints about the crypto investments. For instance, Flint Benson from the State Employees of North Carolina objected that Bitcoin's volatility could put state pensions at risk. This seemed to be the main issue that concerned dissenters in the debate: that crypto could be an insecure and risky bet of public funds.

To mitigate these concerns, House Bill 92 introduced many safeguards. For instance, the bill mandates monthly independent audits and requires a two-thirds majority to decide on emergency spending of the reserves.

Arizona, meanwhile, is leading the way in passing new crypto laws regarding reserve treasuries. However, Arizona has passed a bill that allows up to 10% of public funds to be allocated to crypto investments, which is a heftier investment compared to North Carolina.

North Carolina's bill still needs a Senate vote before the new laws can come into effect. The latest development concerning crypto treasuries could affect the state's own problems with its public pension system, which is currently underfunded.

Regardless of the outcome, North Carolina has become a frontrunner, alongside Arizona, in terms of crypto adoption at the state level.

The North Carolina state house has passed a bill that would allow the state treasurer to invest in cryptocurrencies. The vote was 71 to 44.

This development places North Carolina second in line to Arizona in fully approving a crypto law this year. Several state lawmakers are currently considering bills that would permit or mandate the use of public funds for crypto.

Having passed the house, the bill will now move to the senate for another vote.

The house passed the Digital Assets Investment Act, also called House Bill 92, which permits up to 5% of public funds to be allocated to cryptocurrencies. The legislation dictates that a third party must ascertain whether the investment meets standards regarding secure custody, risk assessment, and regulatory compliance.

The house also passed the State Investment Modernization Act, House Bill 506, with a vote of 110 to 3. This bill proposes the creation of a new North Carolina Investment Authority (NCIA) that would take over the treasury's responsibilities, including making crypto investments if the third-party regulator deems them suitable.

House Bill 92 was initially capped at 10% investment for cryptocurrency, but the current amendment has reduced that allocation in half. Many politicians who oppose the bill suggest that the allocation will gamble away the state retirement funds. They advise legislators to invest their money in crypto and leave taxpayers to make their own investment decisions.

At one stage during the debate, Democrat Marcia Morey held up a printed picture of a Bored Ape NFT that Justin Bieber bought for $1.3 million, which inevitably lost 95% of its value, to highlight the many risks inherent to digital assets. However, despite these elaborate protestations, the house passed the bill, albeit with several measures to limit the amount of risk exposure to public funds.

State workers, moreover, raised complaints about the crypto investments. For instance, Flint Benson from the State Employees of North Carolina objected that Bitcoin'