- Arizona’s BTC reserve will be funded through unclaimed assets and staking rewards.
- The community reacted positively to the update, and CZ urged members to bid early.
Arizona followed New Hampshire’s steps to become the second U.S. state to sign a strategic Bitcoin [BTC] reserve into law. This marked a U-turn after a recent rejection of a related bill.
Notably, Arizona introduced four BTC reserve bills, according to data aggregator Bitcoin Laws.
The first bill (SB 1025) that sought to invest retirement funds into the world’s largest digital asset was rejected by Governor Katie Hobbs.
Unpacking the Arizona Bitcoin reserve bill
But the approved bill (HB 2749) doesn’t rely on retirement funds. To fund the new reserve, the state would use ‘unclaimed assets’ and staking rewards. Per Bitcoin Laws,
“HB 2749 has been signed into law, technically creating AZ’s first crypto reserve. It doesn’t allow investment, but moves unclaimed assets, airdrops, and staking rewards into a reserve.”
One of the remaining bills, which aims to build a reserve from forfeited assets (HB 2324), failed to pass in the final reading.
However, the final bill (SB 1373), which seeks direct investment into BTC using the state’s resources, still awaits Governor Hobbs’ decision.
That said, Matthew Sigel, VanEck’s head of digital assets research, hailed Arizona’s greenlight as a ‘great achievement.’
According to Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the Arizona update was a warning shot to late BTC buyers. He said,
“You can buy while governments are buying or after they have bought. The “before” option is disappearing.”
For Oregon, the passed bill (SB 167) doesn’t directly deal with Bitcoin but provides the groundwork for adoption, noted Bitcoin Laws.
Overall, Arizona was the second state to enact a strategic BTC reserve into law, and Texas could soon join the league pending House vote and the governor’s action.
As of May 2025, nation-states accounted for 2.5% of the total BTC supply and held 529,705 coins (worth $52.8B), per Bitbo data.
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and public companies ranked first and second for BTC adoption.
