New Hampshire moved this week to promote the state’s first effort to establish a $100 million Bitcoin. BTC$88,880.19 The bond will be overseen by a state agency but backed by private companies, the people said.
The New Hampshire Department of Corporate Finance has authorized “$100 million in bonds for projects to acquire and hold digital currencies,” according to a description of its agenda. The NHBFA does not mandate the issuance of state-guaranteed bonds, but encourages the private sector to manage the bonds. If that happens with the bond, the New Hampshire Executive Council would review the deal and vote on whether to approve it.
If approved, the project will be the first of its kind in the country.
NHBFA is a state-created, self-funded organization designed to promote economic development in New Hampshire. Proceeds from bond projects are returned to the entity and used to strengthen its business.
State Rep. Keith Ammon, a longtime cryptocurrency policy advocate in New Hampshire, said this first bitcoin bond effort is intended to be a template for further efforts in the future.
“Bitcoin can partially prevent runaway inflation in states,” he said in an interview with CoinDesk. “This is kind of the training wheels to get us to that point, protecting the country’s finances from future dollar weakness.”
He said the two-year bond will depend on the rise in the value of Bitcoin.
BTC has fallen by about 6% over the past year, after rising steadily for several months before plummeting last month.
New Hampshire is at the forefront of state government efforts to promote cryptocurrency policy. New England established its first virtual currency reserve earlier this year, moving much more quickly than the federal government, which is still in the planning stages.
