Florida lawmakers have revived a push to place bitcoin on the state’s steadiness sheet, submitting new laws for the 2026 session that will create a state-run cryptocurrency reserve after an analogous effort stalled final yr.
Home Invoice 1039, filed Jan. 7 by Republican Rep. John Snyder, would set up a Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve Fund that sits outdoors Florida’s primary treasury.
The proposal authorizes the state’s chief monetary officer to speculate public funds in digital belongings beneath a set of guardrails that embrace audits, reporting necessities, and advisory oversight.
The invoice marks a reset slightly than a clear break. Florida lawmakers floated broader crypto funding proposals in 2025, however these measures had been withdrawn after going through resistance over scope and threat.
The brand new framework narrows the main target and displays a rising desire amongst Republican lawmakers for treating bitcoin as a reserve-style asset slightly than a speculative commerce.
Below HB 1039, the CFO would have discretion over whether or not and when to speculate. The invoice doesn’t mandate a minimal allocation.
Earlier variations of Florida laws proposed permitting as much as 10% of sure state-managed funds to be invested in bitcoin. Whereas the brand new invoice revives that idea, it leaves deployment selections to the CFO and locations the reserve outdoors pension and retirement accounts.
The laws consists of necessities for impartial audits and the creation of an advisory committee to information funding technique and threat administration. Supporters say these provisions are supposed to handle issues about volatility whereas nonetheless giving the state flexibility to behave.
The renewed effort is intently tied to parallel laws within the Senate. Republican Sen. Joe Gruters, a longtime bitcoin supporter and ally of President Donald Trump, has filed companion payments that lay out the belief construction and funding mechanics for the reserve.
Collectively, the Home and Senate measures would govern how Florida acquires, holds, and manages any digital belongings.
Bitcoin as a monetary hedge for Florida
Whereas the payments don’t explicitly identify bitcoin, they successfully restrict eligibility to it. Solely digital belongings that maintained a median market capitalization of not less than $500 billion over the previous 24 months would qualify.
At current, bitcoin is the only asset that meets that threshold, with a market cap above $1 trillion. Ethereum and different crypto fall effectively brief.
Backers body the proposal as a hedge slightly than a wager. Florida Chief Monetary Officer Jimmy Patronis has publicly described bitcoin as “digital gold” and stated restricted publicity might assist diversify state-managed funds over very long time horizons. The invoice states that the reserve is meant to assist shield public belongings towards inflation and forex debasement.
Florida’s method mirrors strikes in different states which have narrowed their focus to bitcoin after preliminary makes an attempt to authorize broader crypto publicity.
New Hampshire became the primary state to explicitly permit public funds to be invested in crypto, granting its treasurer authority to allocate as much as 5% of sure portfolios.
Texas approved a small bitcoin ETF buy in late 2025 as a part of its personal reserve technique.
Wyoming, in the meantime, has passed a slate of legal guidelines clarifying the authorized standing of digital belongings with out committing public funds.
The proposal additionally suits inside Florida’s broader stance on digital cash. In 2023, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed laws blocking central financial institution digital currencies from recognition beneath the state’s industrial code.
The transfer positioned Florida as skeptical of federally issued digital cash whereas remaining open to decentralized options like bitcoin.
If handed, Florida would turn into one of many largest U.S. states to formally experiment with crypto as a reserve-class asset. Supporters argue {that a} tightly ruled reserve might permit the state to realize publicity with out placing core public funds in danger. Critics, nonetheless, level to bitcoin’s historical past of sharp worth swings and query whether or not public cash must be uncovered in any respect.
HB 1039 and its Senate companions should clear committee hearings and flooring votes throughout the 2026 legislative session.
The payments embrace a conditional efficient date of July 1, 2026, which means implementation would solely start if the complete legislative bundle is authorised and signed into legislation.
