New Hampshire’s Bitcoin reserve bill clears House Committee

New Hampshire is the latest U.S. state to advance a Bitcoin reserve bill to the House, with its House committee clearing the proposal on March 5.

According to Bitcoin Laws, House Bill 302 passed the House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee in a 16-1 vote. The proposal was introduced by Republican Keith Ammon on Jan. 7. 

HB302 proposes allowing New Hampshire’s treasurer to invest up to 5% of the general fund, revenue stabilization fund, or any other legislatively authorized funds into eligible digital assets and precious metals like gold, silver, and platinum.

To be included in the reserve, a cryptocurrency must have maintained an average market cap of at least $500 billion over the past calendar year. Bitcoin is currently the only asset that qualifies.

Initially, the bill proposed a 10% allocation and included stablecoins and staking options, but an amendment reduced the allocation to 5% and removed these provisions.

Further, HB302 requires the assets to be held by a qualified custodian or in an exchange-traded product.

With committee approval secured, the bill now moves to a full House vote. If passed, it will proceed to another committee review before heading to the Senate for a final vote.

Currently, only seven U.S. state bills, including New Hampshire’s, have advanced to the House level, according to Bitcoin Laws. 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 U.S. states in pushing Bitcoin-related legislation. On Feb. 21, the state’s Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee approved the Blockchain and Digital Innovation Amendments bill (HB230) with a 4-2-1 vote.

As previously reported by crypto.news, Trump is set to unveil a Bitcoin reserve strategy at the White House Crypto Summit on March 7. In a recent Truth Social post, the president suggested the reserve could include altcoins like XRP, Solanda and Cardano alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum.