House committee hears proposal to let Ohio’s strategic reserve invest in Bitcoin

Chairman Claggett called the House Technology and Innovation Committee to order on June 17 and opened the panel’s third hearing on House Bill 18, which would create an Ohio Strategic Reserve Fund and an Ohio Strategic Reserve Authority and authorize money in the reserve to be invested in Bitcoin.

The bill’s principal proponent, Zach Prouty, director of policy and legislative affairs at the Ohio Treasurer’s Office, told the committee the proposal would create a new classification of state investments intended to be held longer than the current maximum maturity of five years. “Safety and liquidity are first 2 primary our first 2 objectives and then earnings come third,” Prouty said, describing the treasurer’s current investment priorities and how a strategic reserve would differ from the state’s interim cash investments.

The nut graf: supporters said the reserve would let the state earmark truly long-term savings for higher-yielding…