Indiana lawmakers have handed laws permitting public retirement and financial savings plans to put money into bitcoin, crypto and crypto-linked exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with Governor Mike Braun anticipated to signal the invoice, HB 1042, into regulation inside the subsequent 10 days.
The transfer positions Indiana amongst a growing number of states contemplating digital belongings in public funding portfolios.
Underneath the brand new law, Indiana’s public retirement boards, deferred compensation committees, and annuity financial savings packages are required, by July 1, 2027, to supply self-directed brokerage accounts that embody no less than one cryptocurrency funding possibility.
These accounts will give plan members the power to pick cryptocurrency investments in accordance with the boards’ established funding pointers, monitor account valuations, and pay administrative charges related to digital asset holdings.
The laws defines cryptocurrency as a digital foreign money that’s not issued by a government, capabilities as a medium of trade, and depends on encryption expertise to control issuance, confirm transfers, and stop counterfeiting.
Indiana joins different states which have approved public funds to realize publicity to digital belongings.
This pattern has accelerated following President Donald Trump’s directive to create a U.S. Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, encouraging states and public entities to think about bitcoin and digital belongings as a part of their long-term funding methods.
Lawmakers say the brand new regulation will give public staff and retirees extra methods to take a position, together with in cryptocurrencies, whereas protecting management over their decisions.
Self-directed accounts let members handle crypto alongside shares, bonds, and ETFs, with boards setting limits and pointers to cut back danger.
The laws additionally clarifies that retirement boards and deferred compensation committees are chargeable for overseeing crypto choices, setting charges, and making certain account values replicate market costs.
It standardizes crypto choices throughout state pensions, deferred compensation packages, and annuity accounts, giving Indiana members constant entry to digital belongings.
Bitcoin and crypto ATM ban amid fraud issues
In a separate measure, the Indiana legislature voted to ban the operation of digital foreign money kiosks, generally generally known as bitcoin or crypto ATMs, throughout the state. The ban responds to regulation enforcement reviews of rising fraud tied to crypto ATMs.
In Evansville, residents misplaced approximately $400,000 in scams related to those machines in 2025. Violations of the ban would fall beneath the enforcement authority of the state legal professional basic beneath misleading shopper gross sales legal guidelines.
The prohibition aligns with broader issues about crypto ATM fraud nationwide.
The FBI reported almost 11,000 complaints associated to crypto ATM scams in 2024, marking a 99% improve from the earlier 12 months, with losses totaling an estimated $240 million within the first half of 2025.
