The State of Texas receives an initial approval for the Bitcoin strategic reserve bill.
Yesterday, the State Senate approved bill 21, presented by Senator Charles Schwertner, which establishes the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
Summary
Bitcoin strategic reserve bill: the status of the Texas bill
Yesterday, President Trump also signed the executive order establishing the strategic reserve in Bitcoin at the national (i.e., governmental) level.
It does not appear that any single state has yet completed the process of approving a law for the establishment of a similar reserve, so Texas could be the first to succeed, after the federal government.
The Senate of Texas has approved the bill SB 21 of 2025 with 10 votes in favor and none against.
However, this does not mean at all that the draft has already become law.
The overall process of approval and conversion into law involves seven steps, of which only three have been completed so far.
Of the four missing, there are particularly two that could still reject this initiative, at least in theory.
The first is step number 5, which is the vote in the House. However, since the Republicans have the majority in the House as well, in Texas, it seems unlikely that the bill could be rejected. It is true that in the Senate the Republican majority is more overwhelming, but yesterday’s favorable vote was also overwhelming.
The second is the next step, number 6, which is the governor’s signature. However, the governor is also a Republican, and it seems extremely difficult for him to refuse to sign a law approved by both Chambers.
Therefore, the probabilities that the Texas SB 21 bill of 2025, which establishes a strategic reserve in Bitcoin in the State, will eventually be converted into law currently seem very high.
The strategic reserve in Bitcoin of Texas
At this point, it is also possible to hypothesize that the probabilities are very high that Texas will be the first US State to equip itself with a strategic reserve in Bitcoin, after the national government.
However, there is a problem.
In fact, the national reserve was established simply by including the Bitcoin already in the possession of the government. Over the years, the Department of Justice has seized many BTC, some of which have been sold, but about 200,000 are still in their possession.
So at the federal level, it was very easy to establish the strategic reserve in Bitcoin because it was enough to include 200,000 BTC that the government already had. Their current value in dollars is about 17.4 billion.
As for the individual States, this is not necessarily possible, because the Department of Justice is an exclusive body of the federal government, and it is the only one that can seize assets in the context of judicial cases.
The law text approved by the Senate explicitly states that the strategic reserve in Bitcoin of the State of Texas will be composed of funds deposited by the State, State revenues, Bitcoin and other criptovalute purchased using reserve money, earnings from investments, and interest or rewards earned
Thanks to the assets in reserve, and donations.
It will therefore be a mixed fund consisting of dollars, Bitcoin, and other crypto. Initially, it will presumably be formed only by dollars, with which Bitcoin and other crypto will be acquired at a later stage to be held in reserve.
In addition to that, crypto assets derived from revenues or donations to the State will be included in the reserve.
The leading role of Texas
This move places Texas in a leadership role among the American states regarding the crypto sector.
On the other hand, the real goal seems to be precisely this, rather than buying and accumulating BTC to keep as a reserve.
Note that Texas is the second largest US state by GDP, surpassed only by California.
California for now has decided not to follow in Trump’s footsteps, also because it is under democratic leadership, even though from a technological standpoint it is certainly the most advanced US State, given that it includes Silicon Valley.
It is likely that Texas is trying to take away from California the leadership role at least in the fintech sector, even if it has to contend with the State of New York in this field (the third by GDP in the USA).
What is benefiting Texas is precisely the political orientation closer to the national administration of Trump, and a certain distance from the anti-crypto approach typical of the democrats in recent years.
Currently, it actually seems to have an advantage over other states in the crypto field, not because it has more infrastructure from this point of view, but precisely because it has a clearer political line and in line with the national one at this specific historical moment.
