Texas lawmakers submit a bill allowing cities and counties to invest up to 10 million dollars in Bitcoin

Texas State Representative Ron Reynolds submitted HB 815, a bill that allows each city and county in the state to invest up to 10 million dollars of public funds in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. The bill was submitted on the first day of the pre-filing period for the 90th Texas Legislature and will amend the Public Funds Investment Act by adding Section 2256.0165 "Authorized Investment: Cryptocurrency." If it becomes law, this authorization will take effect on September 1, 2027.

The 10 million dollars is a cap for each city or county, not a statewide pooled fund, and school districts and other local governments subject to the investment law are not included. The bill adopts the definition of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency from last year's SB 21, which established the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, so cities or counties are not limited to Bitcoin. The bill does not introduce a requirement for the purchased tokens to have an average market value of at least 50 billion dollars over the past 24 months, nor does it include provisions for cold storage and qualified custodians, and it does not specify regulations for custody, digital asset audits, or loss handling.

This bill is a narrowed version of last year's proposal. Reynolds previously submitted HB 4258 with Mihaela Plesa on March 10, 2025, allowing the state auditor to invest up to 250 million dollars from the Economic Stabilization Fund in Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies, and set the same 10 million dollar cap for cities and counties, but it did not become law. Texas's own reserve was established separately through SB 21, signed by Governor Greg Abbott in June 2025. The Texas State Auditor's Office purchased 5 million dollars of BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust on November 20, 2025, as a transition, and the second purchase brought the reserve's IBIT exposure to about 10 million dollars. The regular session of the 90th Legislature will convene on January 12, 2027, and the bill has not yet been submitted to committee.