(Bloomberg) — Senator Cynthia Lummis, the sponsor of a bill calling for the US to set up a Bitcoin reserve, suggested that progress on the proposal is likely to take longer than many crypto advocates would like.
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“My bets are that you’ll see a state have a Bitcoin strategic reserve before the federal government,” Lummis said during a conference hosted by crypto personality Anthony Pompliano in New York on Friday. “States are incubators of innovation.” She added that other nations are already taking action: “We’re seeing the United Arab Emirates purchase Bitcoin. You’re going to look at some of the sovereign wealth funds around the world who are not as tied up in a democratic republic like we are, be able to just make it so.”
President Donald Trump and Lummis, a Wyoming Republican, first introduced the idea of a national strategic Bitcoin stockpile at an industry conference in Nashville in July. In January, Trump signed his long-awaited executive order on cryptocurrencies, which called for studying the feasibility of creating a digital asset stockpile rather than declaring that Bitcoin would be at the focal point of a national reserve.
“But there’s a possibility that some of these things can be begun without statutory authorization,” Lummis said. “So we’ll see what the White House is thinking about that and then we’ll hope to augment it.”
While a push for state governments to hold digital assets in one way or another generated momentum earlier this year, crypto reserve bills in four states have failed over the last month.
Read: Bitcoin Reserve Bills Are Failing in Quick Succession in States
Lawmakers in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming have all voted against establishing state-level crypto reserves in the last few weeks, citing concerns over risk and volatility associated with digital assets. Strategic crypto reserve bills have been introduced in 24 states so far, according to database Bitcoin Laws.
The measure in Lummis’ home state to allow investment specifically in Bitcoin failed in the House in early February, with only one representative voting in favor of the bill.
The Senate bill from Lummis calls for the US to acquire 1 million Bitcoin, while Trump’s initial proposal required the government to maintain ownership of the roughly 200,000 tokens that the US already possesses following asset seizures.
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