On Thursday (December 12) local time, the official website of the Texas House of Representatives showed that Republican state representative Giovanni Capriglione submitted a draft legislation to establish a Bitcoin strategic reserve in the state. Capriglione said in an audio chat room on social media
He added that this draft is intended to provide a way to strengthen the fiscal stability of Texas and make it a leader in Bitcoin innovation. “Inflation may be the biggest enemy of our investment. Building a strategic Bitcoin reserve and investing in Bitcoin will be a win-win for the state.”
Capriglione said: “I just submitted a draft of this bill called ‘An Act Relating to the Establishment of a Bitcoin Reserve in the Texas Department of the Treasury and the Regulation of Cryptocurrencies by Governmental Entities.’”
Source: Official website of the Texas House of Representatives
It is understood that Texas is the second most economically powerful state in the United States, second only to California. In the global GDP ranking, Texas ranks eighth, close to Canada in size.
It is worth mentioning that Texas is also the area with the highest concentration of Bitcoin miners in the United States. Governor Greg Abbott and two federal senators, Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, have also expressed support for crypto assets.
"My goal is to make this bill as big and as broad as possible," Capriglione said. "The initial steps are to allow it some optionality and flexibility, and if I can get support from other legislators, we can make it even stronger."
U.S. President-elect Trump has repeatedly announced during the campaign that he will work hard to make the United States the "cryptocurrency capital of the earth" and intends to establish a national Bitcoin reserve. In July, Trump discussed plans to use government-held Bitcoin to build this reserve.
Recently, some investors have become increasingly convinced that the new U.S. administration will seek to solidify the crypto industry’s position in financial markets, especially with Trump’s nomination of crypto supporter Paul Atkins as chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
On Monday, Trump’s second son, Eric, said at a conference, “The modern banking system is obsolete. It’s just a matter of time before cryptocurrencies not only catch up, but they break through. So we’re very excited in many ways.”
John Todaro, an analyst at the investment bank Needham, told the media that he believes that a national Bitcoin reserve is unlikely to become a reality, but it will help "bring animal spirits back to the market." The day before, the price of Bitcoin returned to above the US$100,000 mark and is now trading around US$101,000 per coin.