The fine print on the crypto ‘reserves’ of New Hampshire and Arizona
A cursory read of headlines this week has led some crypto investors to cheer the historic creation of digital asset reserve funds by two states. Governors of New Hampshire and Arizona have signed bills that created what seemed to be the first two digital asset reserves in US state history. However, a closer review of those reserves reveals a substantial difference between their actual text and social media posts about them. Consider Arizona’s newly signed law authorizing the creation of a “bitcoin (BTC) and digital assets reserve fund.” Although a fund is, indeed, now authorized by law, Arizona will not be making any crypto purchases. Instead, the state may only add seized assets from civil and criminal legal proceedings to its so-called Bitcoin Reserve Fund. According to Arizona’s newly-revised Section 44-302 statute, the state now defines certain types of property, like checks, annuities, certificates of deposit, and digital assets, as “ presumed abandoned ”...