Arizona: Governor Vetoes Bitcoin Reserve Bill for the Third Time
Arizona’s Democratic Governor, Katie Hobbs, has once again vetoed a pro-Bitcoin bill. The state could have created a public reserve from seized cryptos, as Texas and New Hampshire already do.
In Brief
- Governor Katie Hobbs issues a third veto on a pro-Bitcoin law in Arizona.
- Bill HB 2324 proposed to create a state Bitcoin reserve from seized cryptos.
- Hobbs cites volatility risks and the impact on local law enforcement.
Arizona Rejects Bitcoin Reserve Project Once Again
Katie Hobbs stays on course. The Governor of Arizona has just issued a veto on bill HB 2324, which proposed establishing a Bitcoin reserve managed by the state.
This legislative initiative, adopted by 34 votes to 22 in the House of Representatives, would have allowed the creation of strategic reserves from cryptos confiscated during criminal investigations.
In her letter addressed to House Speaker Steve Montenegro, Hobbs justifies her decision with operational concerns.
She argues that this measure “disincentives local law enforcement from working with the state on digital asset forfeiture“. According to her, removing seized assets from local jurisdictions would harm inter-agency cooperation.
This rejection is part of a series of repeated vetoes. Hobbs had already blocked two Senate bills in May that would authorize state treasurers and retirement systems to allocate up to 10% of their funds to bitcoin.
She also refused a proposal allowing public agencies to accept payments in cryptocurrencies for fines and taxes.
Volatility remains her main argument. “The current volatility of cryptocurrency markets is not a prudent choice for public funds“, she had written during her previous vetoes.
This position contrasts with the approach of other states like Texas and New Hampshire, which have already adopted strategic Bitcoin reserves.
Between Governmental Caution and Political Realities
Hobbs’ attitude reflects the dilemmas faced by elected officials confronted with financial innovations.
Pranav Agarwal, director of Jetking Infotrain India, the first publicly traded company in India to own bitcoin, analyzes this stance pragmatically.
“For a public post like a Governor, Hobbs has to take a fiat-denominated stance,” he explains to Decrypt.
This political caution finds its limits in the apparent contradictions of the Hobbs administration.
Paradoxically, the governor signed bill HB 2749 in May, allowing the state to retain unclaimed cryptos in their native form rather than converting them into cash. This decision suggests a nuanced approach rather than a systematic rejection.
The irony of the situation lies in the fact that in June 2025, Arizona had already adopted a law creating a crypto fund fueled by seized criminal assets.
This legislation, approved at the time, established a “Bitcoin and Digital Assets Reserve Fund” with sophisticated allocation mechanisms: 50% of proceeds for the anti-racketeering fund, 25% for the general budget, and 25% for the crypto reserve.
The future outlook remains open according to analysts.
A future governor could have the opposite view, in the long term, it doesn’t change the state’s prospects to accept crypto, or be seen as crypto-friendly
Agarwal
This analysis reminds us that political positions on cryptos evolve quickly, especially in a changing electoral context.
In short, by once again rejecting a pro-Bitcoin project, Arizona isolates itself from a growing wave of institutional adoption. But nothing is fixed: in the land of Trump and innovation, a single election can sometimes overturn an entire economic doctrine. Bitcoin has not said its last word in the Arizona desert.
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Passionné par le Bitcoin, j'aime explorer les méandres de la blockchain et des cryptos et je partage mes découvertes avec la communauté. Mon rêve est de vivre dans un monde où la vie privée et la liberté financière sont garanties pour tous, et je crois fermement que Bitcoin est l'outil qui peut rendre cela possible.
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