Arizona State Senate Rules Committee passes the Digital Asset Reserve Fund Bill, which will be submitted for full Senate vote.

ChainCatcher News reports that the Arizona Senate has advanced Bill SB 1649, which proposes establishing a “Digital Asset Strategic Reserve Fund” managed by the state treasury. The bill authorizes the state treasurer to hold, invest, and lend seized, forfeited, or surrendered digital assets through qualified custodians or regulated exchanges.

The bill was approved by the Senate Finance Committee on February 16 with 4 votes in favor and 2 against, and received approval from the Senate Rules Committee. It will be submitted for a full Senate vote. The bill explicitly designates Bitcoin, XRP, DigiByte, stablecoins, and NFTs as qualified assets. It sets a 1% baseline threshold based on Bitcoin reaching $100,000 per coin and uses a “Cryptocurrency Fair Value Score” to evaluate other qualified digital assets. The bill emphasizes that these operations must not increase the state’s financial risk. SB 1649 must first be approved by the Senate, then submitted to the House, and finally signed by the governor.