Montana’s Bitcoin reserve bill rejected by House lawmakers

Montana’s House voted against a bill that could have made Bitcoin a state reserve asset on Feb. 22, with many lawmakers concerned it would have allowed the state’s investment board to speculate too heavily with taxpayer money.

Many Republicans voted against House Bill No. 429 in a 41-59 vote. The bill proposed creating a special revenue account to invest in precious metals, stablecoins, and digital assets that have averaged a market cap above $750 billion over the last calendar year — a criteria that only Bitcoin

“It’s still taxpayer money, and we’re responsible for it, and we need to protect it,” State Representative Steven Kelly said during Montana’s Feb. 22 House Floor Session, adding that “these types of investments are way too risky.”

Representative Bill Mercer also didn’t like the idea of giving Montana’s Board of Investments the discretion to invest in cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens.

“I did not come here to do that,” he said, while another lawmaker added: “This smacks of speculation to me.”

🚨 MONTANA Update:

Bitcoin Reserve bill HB 429 failed to pass a second reading in the Montana House. It is now effectively dead.

The vote was 41 - 59. It was largely partisan, but many Republicans voted against the bill.

ANALYSIS:

HB 429 failed in the House, largely due to… pic.twitter.com/AJK8sPrf1N

— Bitcoin Laws (@Bitcoin_Laws) February 22, 2025

Representative Lee Demming, however, said that Montana should be looking to maximize its return on taxpayer money and argued the bill could have facilitated that.

“If we’re going to keep the taxpayer’s money, I think we owe it to the taxpayers to get as high a return on that money that’s sitting in there, either that or you give it right back to them, so I’m going to vote on this bill for that reason.”

“The only thing that is risky is not passing this bill,” said the sponsor of the bill, Curtis Schomer, highlighting that Montana’s investment board would lose purchasing power by continuing to invest in bonds.

Montana Representative Steve Fitzpatrick said that Montana’s investment board “has a lot of money sitting in the bank” that could be put to better use by investing in these precious metals and digital assets.

“We can make a return to the taxpayer and ultimately that will allow us to give more money back, to cut taxes, and provide that fiscal relief that people are looking for.”

Other lawmakers saw potential in House Bill No. 429 but called for additional amendments.

Related: South African firm chooses Bitcoin reserve strategy as inflation hedge

It comes only days after Montana’s business and labor committee passed House Bill No. 429 in a 12-8 vote on Feb. 19, with all Republicans voting in favor and all Democrats opposed.

House Bill No. 429 is now effectively dead, and any future Bitcoin reserve bill would need to be reintroduced into Montana’s legislature again.

Twenty-four states have introduced legislation to establish a Bitcoin reserve, including Arizona, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Texas .

Bills in 20 of those 24 states remain live, according to Bitcoin Laws.

Utah has made the most regulatory progress of any US state on a Bitcoin reserve bill, having passed its HB230 “Blockchain and Digital Innovation Amendments” bill through the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee on Feb. 20.

That bill is now headed to a second and third reading before a final Senate vote is made.

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