New Hampshire Opens State Treasury Authority to Bitcoin
Governor Kelly Ayotte signed HB302, allowing a limited share of New Hampshire public funds to be invested in qualifying digital assets; Bitcoin was the only asset meeting the law’s market-cap threshold at enactment.
On May 6, 2025, New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte signed HB302, creating statutory authority for the state treasurer to invest a limited portion of public funds in precious metals and digital assets meeting specified market-cap and custody requirements. The law took effect the following day.
The legislation did not order an immediate Bitcoin purchase. Instead, it created the legal authority and guardrails under which the treasury could hold qualifying digital assets. At enactment, Bitcoin was the only digital asset large enough to satisfy the statute’s market-cap threshold, making the law effectively a state-level Bitcoin investment authorization.
The measure was historically distinctive because it moved the U.S. “strategic Bitcoin reserve” debate from proposals into enacted state law. It showed that Bitcoin had progressed from an asset held by companies and funds to one that a state government was willing to make eligible for treasury investment under formal statutory rules. Whether and when New Hampshire would actually buy Bitcoin was a separate implementation question; the May milestone was the creation of legal authority itself.