Should NC invest state funds in cryptocurrency? NC House Speaker says yes 

By Will Doran , WRAL state government reporterOne of the top priorities for new state House Speaker Destin Hall will be allowing North Carolina to start investing state funds in cryptocurrency, he announced Monday.Top legislative leaders usually sponsor only a small number of bills each year — so when they do put their name on something, it stands out. Of the dozens of bills filed so far in 2025, Hall has only put his name on one: House Bill 92, filed Monday, which would allow the state treasurer to invest up to 10% of certain funds into cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.“We are seeing a rapid shift towards embracing blockchain technology and digital assets across the United States,” Hall said in a statement on Monday. “Investing in digital assets like Bitcoin not only has the potential to generate positive yields for our state investment fund but also positions North Carolina as a leader in technological adoption and innovation.”He filed it alongside fellow Republican Reps. Mike Schietzelt, Stephen Ross and Mark Brody.”Blockchain technology, decentralized finance, and other innovations in the crypto space will shape our future in many new ways,” said Schietzelt, a new lawmaker who won election to a northern Wake County district in November.Ross added in a statement that the bill would “enhance the diversity and potential returns of our portfolio, ensuring financial health and security for North Carolina.”The cryptocurrency industry has bet heavily on the Republican Party, putting more than $100 million into efforts in 2024 alone to elect Republican Donald Trump as president and help the GOP flip control of the U.S. Senate.Hall’s press release Monday included a statement from a Washington-based cryptocurrency advocate praising the bill.”The North Carolina Blockchain Initiative (NCBI) applauds Speaker Hall, Rep. Ross, and their staff for their thoughtful engagement,” said Dan Spuller, who leads that state initiative and is also head of Industry Affairs at the D.C.-based Blockchain Association.Crypto and the governmentStarting in 2023, as the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden was exploring the possibility of a government-backed cryptocurrency, state Republican lawmakers in Raleigh began voting to ban North Carolina from being involved in that effort in any way. Then-Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, vetoed the bill.He said what the Biden administration was doing would’ve been good for consumer protections in the crypto marketplace, and that the local bill targeting those efforts “is premature, vague and reactionary and proposes an end result on important monetary decisions that haven’t even been made yet.”Lawmakers overrode Cooper’s veto and passed the rules into law. All of the votes on that bill occurred with almost no debate over why lawmakers either supported or opposed it, and the votes came down mostly along party lines.One of Trump’s first executive orders was to undo the work Biden had started on crypt