Florida Withdraws from Bitcoin Reserve Legislation Race

Two legislative bills in Florida aimed at establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve have been indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration. These bills, House Bill 487 and Senate Bill 550, were meant to enable the state to allocate up to 10% of certain funds into Bitcoin, but the Florida legislative session concluded on May 2 without passing them. The session was extended until June 6 to focus on budget-related issues. During this session, lawmakers passed approximately 230 bills covering topics such as water fluoride prohibition, protection of state parks, and restrictions on school smartphones, but did not pursue legislation related to diversifying the state's treasury with cryptocurrencies.

Florida is now out of the race to pass state-level crypto investment laws, joining other states like Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Montana, and Oklahoma, where similar efforts have failed. Meanwhile, Arizona made progress by advancing a bill to create a Bitcoin reserve, but it was vetoed by the governor, citing concerns over digital assets being "untested investments." Despite this, Arizona still has additional opportunities to establish a Bitcoin reserve, with some bills proposing funding methods that are budget-neutral and tied to profits from unclaimed property funds.