Florida Removes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Bills

Florida lawmakers ended consideration of bills seeking to establish a Bitcoin reserve.

Two legislative proposals, HB 487 and SB 550, intended to direct up to 10% of specific state funds into Bitcoin, were pulled as Florida’s session came to a close on May 2.

Lawmakers “indefinitely postponed and withdrew” both bills from consideration, effectively shutting down Florida’s crypto reserve plans without holding a single floor vote.

Lawmakers adjourned their session on May 2, leaving behind two unpassed bills that sought to establish a state-level cryptocurrency reserve.

An agreement between the House and Senate extended the legislative session until June 6 for further work on the budget.

While lawmakers passed approximately 230 bills in this session, which include measures on fluoride in drinking water, safeguarding state parks, and banning smartphones in schools—none focused on expanding the state’s treasury portfolio.

The February-introduced HB 487 would have granted Florida’s chief financial officer and the State Board of Administration the power to invest up to 10% of designated state funds in Bitcoin.

SB 550, presented in February, was designed to permit the allocation of public funds for Bitcoin investments.

Florida’s failure to pass the bill places it alongside states that, despite the surge in national attention after President Trump’s pledge, have opted against or abandoned efforts to create Bitcoin reserves.

States like Arizona, Oklahoma, Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania have rejected crypto treasury proposals this year, often after the proposals had already advanced from early committees.

In some cases, like Arizona, the legislature approved the bill in both chambers before the governor vetoed it.

Last week, Governor Katie Hobbs halted Arizona’s SB 1025, arguing that the bill posed a dangerous risk to pension systems.

“Retirement funds are not the place to experiment with untested assets,” she wrote at the time.

The bill for a Digital Assets Strategic Reserve in Arizona would have enabled the use of seized funds for Bitcoin investments and the creation of a state reserve under the management of state officials.

Following the decision, Senator Wendy Rogers, who co-sponsored the bill, immediately expressed her disapproval and vowed to reintroduce the proposal in the next session, insisting, “Arizona needs Bitcoin.”

“If she vetoes it again, I am sure Governor Andy Biggs will be happy to take credit for signing the bill for this already proven (16 years!) innovation that will protect our wealth,” Rogers tweeted last Saturday

Entrepreneur and crypto enthusiast Anthony Pompliano criticized the move, saying, “Imagine the ignorance of a politician to believe they can make investment decisions.”

“Arizona has two more chances to be the first in the nation to establish a Bitcoin reserve,” said Satoshi Action Fund founder Dennis Porter on May 5, citing an article from Fox’s Eleanor Terrett.

He noted that HB 2749, which utilizes profits from the unclaimed property fund to finance the reserve in a budget-neutral way, is the most likely to pass.

SB 1373, a related proposal, seeks to allow the state treasurer to invest as much as 10% of Arizona’s state funds in digital assets.

The final vote for the bill is still pending.