Texas Senate Passes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Bill

[Webster]

Coin Telegraph: Texas Senate passes Bitcoin strategic reserve bill

The Texas Senate passed the Bitcoin strategic reserve bill SB-21 in a 25-5 vote on March 6, following a fierce debate on the state Senate floor.

Texas State Senator Charles Schwertner, who introduced the legislation, argued for the bill and said it would help Texas shore up its balance sheet with a valuable, scarce asset. “We don’t have stacks of dollar bills and safes like we did in medieval times. What we have is digital currency,” Senator Schwertner told the floor.

Pro-Bitcoin lawmakers also assuaged fears that Bitcoin was a direct competitor to the US dollar as a global reserve currency, adding that BTC was more similar to gold and a hedge against inflation. Schwertner said: “I would argue, and put forth, that because of central intervention and manipulation of the supply of currency, in this case, the US dollar, the ability to spend money through printing money has caused the dollar to fall in value and fall in worth.”

This monetary inflation has caused people to lose faith in the US dollar, the Texas state senator added.

The bill must still be signed by the governor to be passed into law, and if SB-21 is enacted, Texas will become the first state in the United States to have a digital asset strategic reserve.