Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has vetoed House Bill 2324, a measure aimed at creating a reserve fund to manage crypto assets seized through criminal forfeiture.
In a letter released Tuesday, Hobbs argued the bill would discourage local law enforcement from cooperating on digital asset seizures by shifting control of seized crypto assets away from local jurisdictions.
Earlier in May, Arizona approved HB 2749, becoming the second U.S. state to pass a crypto reserve law. That legislation focuses on handling unclaimed crypto presumed abandoned, whereas HB 2324 specifically targeted assets seized from criminal activity.
The proposal sought to give the State Treasurer authority over the Bitcoin and Digital Assets Reserve Fund, allowing the state to invest or trade crypto assets obtained from criminal proceedings, including in exchange-traded funds containing digital assets.
The fund will be overseen by Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar and aims to explore Bitcoin as a strategic asset class. “We can buy land, we can buy gold; I think the state of Texas should have the option of evaluating the best performing asset over the last 10 years,” said bill author Senator Charles Schwertner.
Unlike similar initiatives in Arizona and New Hampshire, Texas is creating a standalone reserve fund entirely separate from the state treasury.
Smarter Web Company, a small website design firm, saw its market value rocket from £4 million to over £1 billion in just two months after announcing its Bitcoin purchases in April, although shares have since cooled. In the US, Anthony Pompliano’s ProCap BTC acquired 3,724 Bitcoin for $386 million as part of plans to go public through an SPAC merger, while Japan’s Metaplanet raised $517.8 million on the first day of its ambitious “555 Million Plan,” which targets 210,000 Bitcoin by 2027.
As reported, over the past week, at least nine UK firms, from web design startups to mining businesses, have announced plans to buy Bitcoin or revealed recent purchases to add the cryptocurrency to their corporate treasuries.