The Governor of Arizona, Katie Hobbs, has vetoed Senate Bill 1025, effectively ending the state's hopes of having a Bitcoin treasury.
There is another Senate Bill in the works, but Hobbs will most likely veto that. She announced the veto proudly, stating that the state has one of the strongest retirement systems in the country because politicians like herself make sensible investment decisions.
Arizona was the first in the race to create a crypto treasury. Sadly for many crypto supporters in Arizona, they will not have a crypto treasury for at least a year. Senate Bill 1025 would have allowed the state to invest up to 10% of public funds in crypto. However, many retirement groups protested the bill because they felt politicians were gambling away their pensions on Bitcoin.
One of the co-sponsors of the bill, Wendy Rogers, expressed her disappointment. She pointed out that Arizona’s retirement funds are already invested in Saylor’s software company, Strategy, which has the world’s most extensive corporate Bitcoin treasury. Bitcoin doesn't need Arizona, but Arizona needs Bitcoin, said Rogers. She also promised supporters that she would refile another Senate Bill and, through persistence, get the bill passed.
Strategy’s stock price rose around 30% in April, most assuredly adding value to Arizona’s robust retirement system.
Hobbs, moreover, has a history of vetoing bills. She even threatened to veto all bills until disability legislation was resolved. In 2025 alone, she has already vetoed 75 bills, which is more than all of 2024, which had 74 bills, but less than her record of 143 bills, which she vetoed in 2023. To put this in perspective, no other Arizona governor in history has vetoed more than 94 bills in a single year.
There were two Senate Bills on Hobbs’ desk, both of which were open for approval. One was the 1025 bill, which she just dropped. The other was 1373, which she will most likely veto due to her history of vetoing bills, especially those of investments she deems highly risky.
North Carolina, meanwhile, has stepped up efforts to win the race for Bitcoin legislation. The state has just passed a bill that allows for a 5% allocation of public funds to crypto investments. However, North Carolina could suffer the same fate as Arizona if certain politicians judge crypto as a speculative asset, not a serious asset. Some politicians may also reject a Bitcoin reserve because President Trump is endorsing it at the federal level. Investors from the crypto industry may lament that North Carolina missed an opportunity to embrace a new technology.
New Hampshire is another runner-up state in the Bitcoin race, with local politicians believing their state will be the first to make history. However, others are paying close attention to Texas, which is also a runner-up state, but with much more momentum, suggesting it could be the winner.
