Overview
- Texas’ Comptroller confirmed a roughly $5 million bitcoin purchase on Nov. 20 at about $91,336 per coin as the first deployment of the $10 million reserve.
- The holding is labeled a temporary position while the state contracts with a cryptocurrency bank for custody and management.
- Texas is the first state to buy cryptocurrency for a state-managed reserve, while Arizona and New Hampshire have authorized similar funds without purchasing assets.
- Critics, including economists and some lawmakers, warn about bitcoin’s volatility and the use of taxpayer dollars, as supporters frame the move as diversification and an inflation hedge.
- Texas’ expanding crypto-mining sector—at least 27 facilities drawing 2,717 megawatts in 2023—has intensified policy focus after a study linked mining to nearly a 5% rise in electric bills.