Texas Makes Strategic Bitcoin Move with $10M Investment Plan

• Texas invested $5 million in BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, with another $5 million planned for direct custody.

• The purchase marks growing state-level adoption of digital assets across the United States.

Through​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ a $10 million strategy, Texas has come into the Bitcoin market in a measured way. On the 20th of November, the state invested $5 million in a spot Bitcoin ETF by BlackRock. In addition to this, $5 million is reserved for acquisition of Bitcoin under ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌self-custody.

Texas Finalizes Self-Custody Infrastructure

On​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ Tuesday, via social media, Lee Bratcher of the Texas Blockchain Council made the announcement of the investment. As they are still working on the self-custody infrastructure, Lee mentioned that Texas decided to go the ETF route first. The money, $10 million, is from the state’s general revenue fund, but not all of the funds have been spent yet. 

The purchase may be related to the governor Greg Abbott’s Bitcoin reserve initiative for Texas that was approved last June. The plan is to have Bitcoin as one of the state’s financial assets for the long term. Nevertheless, the original bill stipulates that only assets with a market capitalization of more than $500 billion will be eligible for the ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌reserve.

This​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ development is a major change in the way the government views digital assets. Pierre Rochard, CEO of The Bitcoin Bond Company, pointed out the change of perception in a very short time. He said that governments changed from issuing threats of bans to buying Bitcoin themselves in just five years. 

Contrary to what some early reports said, Texas is actually not the first state to initiate Bitcoin ETF investments at the state level. The Wisconsin Investment Board made a private market purchase of IBIT shares worth close to $100 million in May of last year. Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas mentioned that Texas is now the recent IBIT investor, along with Harvard and Abu ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌Dhabi.

According​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ to State Senator Charles Schwertner, if everything goes well, Ethereum might be added to Texas’s strategic reserve just like Bitcoin. In his words, a steady market cap of more than $500 billion for 24 months could be the criterion for Ethereum’s inclusion.

BlackRock’s IBIT is the main focus of attention and is currently at $49.56. The after-hours trading is almost silent with a slight 0.22% uptick. The ETF has retreated by close to 10% since the beginning of the year, while the institutional demand for it has been rising. The Trump Administration’s embrace of cryptocurrency has not yet resulted in a winning streak for ETFs. 

Texas’s investment is a clear sign that the adoption of digital assets is gaining momentum at the state level across the United ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌States.

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