Florida is again with one other try to put Bitcoin on the state’s stability sheet. The brand new invoice, HB 183, revives final yr’s failed effort however with sharper enamel and broader attain.
It as soon as once more units a ceiling of 10% of sure state funds that could possibly be allotted to digital belongings, together with Bitcoin and controlled ETFs. However the place the 2025 invoice was principally an aspirational gesture, this one reads like a working blueprint.
It spells out how custody would work, who will get to make the calls, and even what occurs if the state loses management of its non-public keys.
The invoice runs lengthy and detailed, and for good motive: HB 183 is supposed to point out that Florida can truly maintain crypto in a manner that passes audit.
It defines digital belongings to incorporate Bitcoin, tokenized securities, and different cryptographically recorded devices underneath Florida’s digital report legal guidelines. It additionally opens the door to exchange-traded merchandise that maintain digital belongings alongside shares or commodities.
That enlargement means the state isn’t solely speaking about stacking Bitcoin. It’s positioning itself to personal publicity by means of SEC-registered ETFs and even tokenized securities, so long as they meet custody and disclosure requirements.
The invoice designates the Chief Monetary Officer because the central actor. The CFO may allocate as much as 10% of every state fund account, from Common Income to belief and company funds, into permitted crypto or ETF devices.
The identical ceiling applies to the pension system, the place the State Board of Administration may make investments as much as 10% of the Florida Retirement System Belief Fund. These limits mirror final yr’s invoice however make clear that the cap applies per account, to not all funds collectively, successfully widening the potential pool.
None of it’s necessary, as these are ceilings, not quotas, however the authorized authorization is sweeping sufficient to matter.
Custody and management guidelines have been tightened. Any digital asset the state buys should stay underneath steady management, both held immediately by the CFO or by means of a professional custodian that may legally good a safety curiosity. If that management lapses, the state has 5 enterprise days to repair it.
Lending is allowed however provided that the loans are totally collateralized, with the CFO free to require overcollateralization by rule. These are the sort of operational guardrails designed to reply the query that killed the primary invoice: how do you safe a public treasury’s non-public keys?
HB 183 even accounts for taxes or charges obtained in crypto, requiring them to be swept into Common Income and reimbursed in {dollars}, a small however telling signal that drafters are interested by accounting friction as a lot as ideology.
The size and the stakes
The numbers behind the ten% determine make the invoice greater than symbolic. The Florida Retirement System holds about $218 billion.
A 1% allocation there would equal roughly $2.2 billion, already greater than most each day spot Bitcoin ETF flows.
A 5% allocation would method $11 billion, and that’s earlier than counting different state funds just like the $4.9 billion Funds Stabilization Fund, which may theoretically add a whole bunch of hundreds of thousands extra.
None of those strikes would occur in a single day, however even a cautious 1% pilot would introduce a brand new supply of regular demand right into a market that now depends closely on ETFs for inflows.
The authorized and political obstacles stay steep. The invoice exempts crypto holdings from a number of the state’s public-deposit safety guidelines, however that doesn’t resolve the bigger concern of volatility and fiduciary danger. Public funds are constructed on liquidity and predictability; Bitcoin is neither.
The five-day treatment clause for custody lapses might look tidy on paper, nevertheless it’s untested in public-sector follow. Auditors will need proof that Florida can doc and worth these holdings as rigorously as its Treasuries or equities.
There’s additionally the query of timing: even when the invoice passes, every funding board nonetheless must amend its personal coverage statements earlier than touching crypto.
HB 183, in brief, isn’t a declaration that Florida will purchase Bitcoin, however that Florida desires to make it legally doable to take action. It broadens the scope from one asset to a whole class, builds in management mechanisms, and units the stage for cautious participation slightly than speculative bets.
The ten% quantity grabs consideration, however the actual story lies within the state’s try to jot down down a authorized playbook for sovereign crypto custody.
If that framework survives scrutiny and beneficial properties traction, it may develop into the primary mannequin of its form within the US: a quiet however profound shift in how governments take into consideration holding digital belongings, one statute at a time.
