Texas Rep. Files Bill Letting Cities Invest $10 Million in Bitcoin

A Texas legislator submitted a costs Monday that would let each city and county in the state invest approximately $10 countless public cash in bitcoin or another cryptocurrency, without setting any guidelines for how those coins would be held. Home Bill 815, submitted by Rep. Ron Reynolds, a Missouri City Democrat, on the very first day of prefiling for the 90th Texas Legislature, brings the caption “Relating to the authority of a town or county to invest cash in cryptocurrencies.” The presented textpublished on the Texas Legislature’s website, is 2 areas long. The costs would change the general public Funds Investment Act, Chapter 2256 of the Texas Government Code, by including a brand-new Section 2256.0165, entitled “Authorized Investments: Cryptocurrency.” Under that area, “a town or county might invest not more than $10 countless its cash or cash under its control in Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency.” The authority would work Sept. 1, 2027, if the costs ends up being law. The $10 million figure is a cap on each city or county, not a single statewide swimming pool. School districts and other city governments covered by the financial investment act are excluded.

What the expense does and does not state

The step obtains its meanings of “Bitcoin” and “cryptocurrency” from Section 403.701 of the Government Code, the meanings composed into law in 2015 by Senate Bill 21, which developed the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Bitcoin is specified as a decentralized cryptocurrency produced by a peer-to-peer network that runs separately of any main authority or bank. Cryptocurrency is specified more broadly as a virtual currency that utilizes cryptography to protect deals taped on a dispersed journal, such as a blockchain.

That implies a city or county would not be restricted to bitcoin. The expense likewise does not import the reserve law’s requirement that coins purchased for the state fund have a typical market capitalization of a minimum of $500 billion over the most current 24-month duration, or its arrangements on freezer and certified custodians.

The General Public Funds Investment Act currently needs city governments to embrace a written financial investment policy that stresses security of principal and liquidity, and to invest with the care a sensible individual would utilize in handling their own affairs. A city or county would still need to include cryptocurrency to that policy before purchasing any. The brand-new area itself is quiet on custody, on audits particular to digital properties, and on how a loss would be dealt with.

A narrower variation of in 2015’s proposition

Reynolds submitted a wider procedure, House Bill 4258, on March 10, 2025, with Rep. Mihaela Plesa. That expense would have let the comptroller invest as much as $250 countless the Economic Stabilization Fund, the state’s rainy day fund, in bitcoin or another cryptocurrency, and it consisted of the very same $10 million cap for cities and counties. It was described your house Delivery of Government Efficiency Committee on April 1, 2025, and did not end up being law.

Home Bill 815 drops the rainy day fund language and keeps just the local-government piece. The state’s own reserve was produced individually through Senate Bill 21, which Gov. Greg Abbott checked in June 2025.

The Texas Comptroller’s workplace later on purchased $5 countless BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust on Nov. 20, 2025, as a placeholder while it dealt with direct custody, The Texas Tribune reported, with the workplace validating the purchase. A 2nd purchase brought the reserve’s IBIT direct exposure to about $10 million. In May, Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock called an advisory committee and released an ask for propositions for a custodian, an action towards holding bitcoin straight.

What follows

Prefiling for the 90th Texas Legislature opened Monday, and the routine session assembles Jan. 12, 2027. The costs has actually been submitted however has actually not yet been described a committee, an action that generally waits up until legislators assemble. Even if it passes both chambers and is signed, cities and counties might not utilize the brand-new authority up until Sept. 1, 2027.

Micah Zimmerman

Micah initially found Bitcoin in 2018 however stayed a doubter on the sidelines for too long. Considering that 2021, he has actually covered crypto and service and now works as a news press reporter for Bitcoin Magazine, based in North Carolina.