New Hampshire is the latest US state to move the Bitcoin reserve bill to the House of Representatives after a House committee cleared its proposal on March 5th.
According to Bitcoin law, House Bill 302 passed the House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee on 16-1 votes. The proposal was introduced on January 7th by Republican Keith Ammon.
HB302 proposes that New Hampshire treasurers can invest in digital assets eligible for up to 5% of the General Fund, the Income Stabilization Fund or other legislative funds and precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum.
To be included in the reserve, cryptocurrencies must have maintained an average market capitalization of at least $500 billion over the past year. Currently, Bitcoin is the only asset that qualifies.
Initially, the bill proposed a 10% allocation, including stubcoin and staking options, but amendments reduced the allocation to 5% and removed these provisions.
Additionally, HB302 requires that assets be held by a qualified custodian or to hold products traded on exchanges.
The bill will now move to the Full House vote, as committee approval is secured. If passed, they will proceed to another committee review before heading to the Senate for a final vote.
Currently, only seven US state bills, including New Hampshire, have advanced to the House level, according to Bitcoin law. Other states with Bitcoin-related bills at this stage include North Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas. Meanwhile, Utah and Arizona are the only two states that have cleared this stage.
Utah is leading the way among US states in promoting Bitcoin-related laws. On February 21, the state Senate Laws and Issues and Tax Committee approved the Blockchain and Digital Innovation Amendment Bill (HB230) by a 4-2-1 vote.
As previously reported by Crypto.News, Trump is scheduled to announce his Bitcoin Reserve Strategy at the White House Crypto Summit on March 7th. In a recent social post of truth, the president suggested that altcoins such as XRP, Solanda and Cardano could be included along with Bitcoin and Etherum.
