What to know:
- Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill that would have allowed the state to invest in bitcoin using seized funds.
- The bill could have made Arizona the first U.S. state to adopt bitcoin in its financial reserves.
Arizona will not be investing in bitcoin (BTC), at least not this year.
Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill on Friday that would have allowed the state to hold the digital asset as part of its official reserves.
The legislation, known as Senate Bill 1025, proposed using seized funds to invest in BTC and create a digital assets reserve managed by the state. After passing the state House in a narrow 31–25 vote, the bill reached Hobbs' desk, where it was swiftly struck down.
“The Arizona State Retirement System is one of the strongest in the nation because it makes sound and informed investments. Arizonans' retirement funds are not the place for the state to try untested investments like virtual currencу,” Hobbs wrote in a statement.
The veto ends a push that could have made Arizona the first state to set up a cryptocurrency reserve, and it could have even outpaced the U.S. Treasury Department in doing so.