Illinois lawmakers are now discussing a bill that would introduce a strategic Bitcoin (BTC) reserve with a minimum five-year investment period.
House Bill 1844 (HB1844) was introduced by Illinois State Representative John Cabello. It proposes the creation of a strategic Bitcoin reserve that would serve as a “special fund in the state treasury for the purpose of holding Bitcoin as a financial asset.”
The bill also introduces a minimum five-year holding strategy for the Bitcoin after the fund’s creation. The filing reads:
“Provides that the State Treasurer shall hold all Bitcoin deposited into the Fund for a duration of at least 5 years from the date that the Bitcoin enters the State’s custody.”
The details
After the five-year holding period is over, the state treasury will be able to decide to to “transfer, sell, appropriate, or convert to another cryptocurrency any Bitcoin in the Fund.” The bill was already submitted to the Rules Committee earlier today, to establish the final regulatory details as it awaits full approval by Illinois lawmakers.
This news follows Texas’s consideration of creating a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Earlier this month, Texas Senator Charles Schwertner kicked off the state’s 89th legislative session by introducing a bill that would make Texas the first state to establish such a reserve.
Our recent analysis shows that in November similar ideas were floated in Pennsylvania and in December in Ohio. More recently New Hampshire lawmakers also started discussing a Bitcoin reserve bill as did those operating in North Dakota.
All those initiative follow the lead of Central American country El Salvador. The nation is famously the world’s first country to adopt Bitcoin as its legal tender back in 2021 and continued to take flak from financial regulators ever since.
In October 2024, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged El Salvador to strengthen its oversight over Bitcoin transactions in the country. More recently, the international body gave the nation a $1.4 billion loan in exchange for some limitations on its Bitcoin adoption.