Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S1967 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 422 FILED ON: 1/13/2025
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1967
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Peter J. Durant
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to a bitcoin strategic reserve.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Peter J. DurantWorcester and Hampshire 1 of 4
16	16	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 422 FILED ON: 1/13/2025
17	17	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1967
18	18	By Mr. Durant, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1967) of Peter J. Durant for
19	19	legislation relative to a bitcoin strategic reserve. Revenue.
20	20	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
21	21	_______________
22	22	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
23	23	(2025-2026)
24	24	_______________
25	25	An Act relative to a bitcoin strategic reserve.
26	26	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
27	27	of the same, as follows:
28	28	1 Chapter 29 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby
29	29	2amended by inserting after section 71 the following section:-
30	30	3 Section 72. Definitions. (a) The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
31	31	4have the meaning given to them in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
32	32	5 “Bitcoin”, The decentralized digital currency launched in 2009, which is based on Satoshi
33	33	6Nakamoto's white paper, entitled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System." The term
34	34	7includes the digital asset that is the basis of the Bitcoin exchange-traded product and regulated
35	35	8by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
36	36	9 “Digital Asset”, A virtual currency, cryptocurrency or natively electronic asset, including
37	37	10Bitcoin, a stablecoin, a nonfungible token or other digital-only asset that confers economic,
38	38	11proprietary or access rights or powers. 2 of 4
39	39	12 “Exchange-traded product”, A financial instrument that is approved by the United States
40	40	13Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodities Future Trading Commission or the
41	41	14Department of Banking and Securities, is traded on a United States regulated exchange and
42	42	15derives its value from an underlying pool of assets, including stocks, bonds, commodities or
43	43	16indexes.
44	44	17 “Private key”, A unique element of cryptographic data that is used for signing
45	45	18transactions on a blockchain and is known to the owner of the unique element.
46	46	19 ‘Qualified custodian”, A Federal or State chartered bank, trust company or special
47	47	20purpose depository institution or a company regulated by the Commonwealth that has custody of
48	48	21Bitcoin or a digital asset for an approved exchange-traded product.
49	49	22 “Secure custody solution”, A technological product or a blended product and service that
50	50	23meets all of the following criteria:
51	51	24 (1) Has a cryptographic private key that secures a digital asset, which is exclusively
52	52	25known by and accessible by a government entity.
53	53	26 (2) Has a cryptographic private key that secures a digital asset, which is exclusively
54	54	27contained within an encrypted environment and accessible only via an end-to-end encrypted
55	55	28channel.
56	56	29 (3) Has a cryptographic private key that secures a digital asset, which is never contained
57	57	30by, accessible by or controllable via a smartphone.
58	58	31 (4) Has hardware containing a cryptographic private key that secures a digital asset and is
59	59	32maintained in at least two geographically diversified specially designated secure data centers. 3 of 4
60	60	33 (5) Enforces a multiparty governance structure for authorizing a transaction and user
61	61	34access controls.
62	62	35 (6) Logs each user-initiated action.
63	63	36 (7) Undergoes regular code audits and penetration testing from an auditing firm, which
64	64	37ensures that a vulnerability identified by the auditing firm is promptly remedied.
65	65	38 (8) Is provided by an entity that has implemented a disaster recovery protocol to ensure
66	66	39customer access to the digital assets if the entity becomes unavailable.
67	67	40 (b) There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate
68	68	41fund known as the Commonwealth Bitcoin Strategic Reserve to be administered by the treasurer
69	69	42of the commonwealth.
70	70	43 (c) The State Treasurer may invest in Bitcoin or digital assets with money that is
71	71	44unexpended, unencumbered or uncommitted and deposited in any of the following funds:
72	72	45 The Commonwealth Bitcoin Strategic Reserve as established under this section.
73	73	46 (d) The amount of money that the State Treasurer may invest in Bitcoin or digital assets
74	74	47during the course of a fiscal year may not exceed 10% of the total amount of money being
75	75	48deposited in the Commonwealth Stabilization Fund, as allocated by the legislature. The treasurer
76	76	49may also deposit in the fund any bitcoin or other digital asset seized by the commonwealth.
77	77	50 (e) Bitcoin or digital assets acquired by the fund specified under subsection (b) shall be
78	78	51held directly by the State Treasurer through the use of a secure custody solution on behalf of the
79	79	52Commonwealth by a qualified custodian or in the form of an exchange-traded product issued by
80	80	53an investment company registered in this Commonwealth. 4 of 4
81	81	54 (f) If the treasurer can loan Bitcoin or other digital assets without increasing the financial
82	82	55risk to the commonwealth, the treasurer may loan Bitcoin or other digital assets to generate
83	83	56additional returns for the commonwealth. The treasurer shall promulgate regulations for the
84	84	57purpose of this subsection.