In Missouri, the Republican representative Ben Keathley has introduced a bill to establish a strategic reserve in Bitcoin. Remember that currently both Houses are Republican.
Missouri and the Proposal to Add Bitcoin to the State’s Strategic Reserves
Missouri is one of those US states that is relatively favorable towards Bitcoin and the crypto sector.
The State is in fact not known either for particularly opposing positions, nor for major initiatives in favor.
However, it adopts a legislation that is substantially favorable towards the crypto sector, even if in the past its public institutions have expressed concerns regarding the risks associated with Bitcoin and criptovalute.
Additionally, it has adopted measures to regulate mining crypto activities, but these measures essentially require mining companies to register with the Department of Commerce and comply with certain environmental standards.
It is in fact a balanced approach, which recognizes both the opportunities and the risks associated with the bull and bear crypto world.
However, the initiative of the mayor of Cool Valley remains curious, who in 2021 promised to give each of the 1,500 residents of the small town up to $1,000 in BTC, obligating them to hold it for several years. When the initiative was announced, a BTC was worth about $50,000, therefore in less than four years its market value has doubled.
The bill: Missouri wants Bitcoin as a reserve
The HB 1217 bill proposal would authorize the State of Missouri to hold Bitcoin as a reserve and to accept it for state payments.
It has been called Missouri Bitcoin Reserve Bill, and it has been presented to the State House of Representatives. In the Senate, in fact, another similar bill, SB 614, was already presented in recent weeks.
The bill HB 1217 presented by Keathley also stipulates that there is no explicit limit on investments, whereas SB 614 provides for a 10% limit, and that once BTC are purchased, they must be held for at least 5 years.
It is difficult to say what chances this bill has of being approved with the current text.
First of all, although the House and Senate of the State of Missouri are both majority Republican, the bill SB 614 in the Senate was introduced first, and if it were approved, it is reasonable to expect that the HB 1217 would be set aside.
Furthermore, it is not certain that the Republican majority will decide to support individual initiatives of individual members of parliament.
The conseguenze
In the event that Keathley’s bill HB 1217 is approved, a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Fund would be established, supervised by the State Treasurer, also capable of collecting donations in Bitcoin from government entities and residents of Missouri.
Another interesting consequence would be that all government entities in Missouri would be forced to accept Bitcoin for uses approved by the Department of Revenue, such as tax payments, fees, fines, and other eligible payments.
One of the most interesting consequences would in fact be the long-term hodl strategy.
In fact, if such a law were to be approved, the treasurer will have to keep all the BTC collected for a minimum of five years from the date of receipt.
Finally, investments in Bitcoin with state funds would also be authorized, granting the State treasurer the authority to invest in Bitcoin.
The proposed effective date is August 28, 2025, but it is subject to changes based on further discussions.
Bitcoin as a reserve in other States
Since Donald Trump suggested the idea of creating a strategic reserve in Bitcoin at the national level, in many US states, bills have been introduced to do the same.
In particular, the bill HB 1217 by Ben Keathley picks up on one of these proposals already presented in other states, namely Utah’s bill 230, already approved by the House and now headed to the Senate.
On the website Bitcoin Laws there is a map of all the US States, where those in which legislative proposals have already been presented to establish strategic reserves in Bitcoin are colored orange: there are 17 compared to the total 50. If instead, the search is extended to all the States where crypto legislative proposals have been presented, the number reaches 25, which is about half.
Source: https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2025/02/07/in-missouri-proposta-una-riserva-strategica-in-bitcoin/