New Hampshire Rep. Keith Ammon (R) proposed a bill Friday that would enable the state’s Treasury to invest a portion of public funds into digital assets and precious metals.
Not only would the move insulate the Granite State from the threat of runaway inflation, but it would also dovetail with some of New Hampshire’s cultural values, Ammon told Decrypt.
“The ethos in New Hampshire is ‘Live Free or Die’—leave me alone, and don’t burden me with too many regulations,” he said. “We’re tied to the U.S. dollar, whether we like it or not, but this would allow us to have the state invest a small portion into this uncorrelated, new asset class.”
According to the bill’s text, the state’s treasurer would be able to allocate public funds to precious metals like platinum and gold, as well as “any digital asset with a market capitalization of over $500 billion averaged over the previous calendar year.”
Under those conditions, only Bitcoin would currently be allowed. But the bill includes language stating that the treasurer may engage in “lending or staking” with digital assets, referencing the process through which users of proof-of-stake networks like Ethereum and Solana can earn rewards.
The allocations would be capped at 10% of the state’s public funds. As of June 30, the Treasury held a balance of $3.6 billion, according to an annual report.
Calling for the establishment of a strategic reserve, Ammon’s bill echoes President-elect Donald Trump’s calls on the campaign trail last year. At a Bitcoin confab in Nashville last summer, Trump told attendees to “never sell your Bitcoin,” saying the U.S. would establish a Bitcoin stockpile.
At the time, Trump advocated for using funds seized by the U.S. government to create the stockpile. Since then, Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) has introduced the BITCOIN Act, which would enable the government to purchase up to 1 million Bitcoin over a five-year period.
Crypto OGs like entrepreneur and former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes have expressed doubt that Trump could establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve quickly. Representatives in states like Texas, Pennsylvania, and Ohio have also proposed bills for creating their own strategic Bitcoin reserves.
As far as putting Bitcoin on New Hampshire’s balance sheet goes, Ammon said he had “a very short conversation” with New Hampshire State Treasurer Monica Mezzapelle about the bill yesterday, and he does not know yet whether she is “keen to the idea” yet.
Mezzapelle declined to comment to Decrypt, saying she had not been able yet to review the proposed bill’s text.
Since 1920, New Hampshire has held the first presidential primary, letting voters weigh in on party candidates before other states. Ammon told Decrypt that, along those lines, there’s no reason why New Hampshire shouldn’t be the first to create a Bitcoin reserve.
“The state that is last to build Bitcoin reserves will lose,” he said. “It’s urgent that states act sooner than later, and that takes some education on the part of state officials.”
Edited by Andrew Hayward
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