Florida lawmakers introduce bills to create a state-run strategic cryptocurrency reserve backed primarily by Bitcoin

Representative John Snyder has sponsored House Bill (HB) 1039, a general bill to set the wheels in motion for a strategic crypto reserve in the state of Florida.

He is not alone in his push, as Senator Joe Gruters proposed two bills, SB 1040 and SB 1038, which also call for the creation of the reserve and a trust fund that will hold and manage digital assets.

The proposal states, “To be eligible to be purchased for the reserve, a cryptocurrency must have an average market capitalization of at least $500 billion over the most recent 24-month period.”

This condition means that the reserve will only keep Bitcoin, whose market capitalization exceeds $1 trillion, for now. While others fall short of this mark, the closest is Ethereum, with its market capitalization currently around $380 billion as of the time of writing.

This is not the first time lawmakers have made a push to establish a crypto reserve in Florida.

HB 487 and SB 550 were withdrawn in May 2025, while Representative Webster Barnaby filed HB 183 in October with revised provisions following the initial failure.

Florida follows Trump executive order for BTC reserve

Florida’s proposal is also coming at a time when more states are creating their own strategic crypto reserves, buoyed by the executive order issued by President Trump in March 2025, when he established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve at the federal level.

Texas became the first state to fund a strategic cryptocurrency reserve with a $5 million Bitcoin purchase in December 2025, while New Hampshire was the first state to pass a law that established a strategic Bitcoin reserve, allowing its treasurer to invest up to 5% of public funds in digital assets exceeding $500 billion in market capitalization.

Arizona also passed more limited legislation permitting the state to hold seized cryptocurrency assets.

Proponents have stated that these reserves help keep state financial institutions cutting-edge while providing an inflation hedge, describing Bitcoin as a store of value for public funds comparable to how governments traditionally use gold.

Senator Gruters positioned his bills as a long-term investment strategy to diversify Florida’s portfolio and adapt to the emerging digital economy. The bill plans to buff the state’s crypto stash through recoveries in legal proceedings, revenue, purchases, and rewards from blockchain forks or airdrops.

Regulation is in the bag, volatility still runs wild

Bitcoin hit an all-time high of over $126,198 in October and saw steep declines by the end of the same month. As of the time of writing, BTC trades around $90,000.

All these happened in 2025 when bullish speculators believed the asset would hit over $200,000. Critics have raised concerns about the wisdom of investing taxpayer money in volatile assets.

Another fear surrounding digital assets, especially for institutions, both private and public, apart from volatility, lies in the unregulated nature of most of the sector.

The passing of the GENIUS Act was the first step towards bringing more regulatory oversight into the space, and the CLARITY bill is expected to further regulate the space. All of these are expected to give investors the needed boost and cover, compared to the wild west that the industry had been operating in before now.

The legislation includes a conditional effective date of July 1, 2026.