Bitcoin fever appears to be engulfing players of increasing importance, as the US state of Texas became the latest entity to purchase the leading digital asset. Lee Bratcher, the President of The Texas Blockchain Council, confirmed the development in an X post.
Texas buys the Bitcoin dip – will it pay off?
In an X post published on November 25, Bratcher revealed that the State of Texas had become the first US state to invest in BTC. He thanked Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock and the investment team at Texas Treasury for the initiative.
Notably, the State of Texas purchased BTC worth $5 million on November 20, at an average price of $87,000. Bratcher clarified that although only $5 million has been invested until now, an allocation of $10 million has been made from general revenue. As a result, future BTC purchases can be expected.
It should be highlighted that currently, the State of Texas does not have any direct exposure to BTC, in that it didn’t buy real BTC. Rather, the initial investment of $5 million was made through BlackRock’s IBIT exchange-traded fund (ETF).
To explain, buying BTC through an ETF only gives the investor exposure to the price of the digital asset. The actual BTC is held by the ETF issuer, in this case, BlackRock.
Bratcher clarified that the state will eventually self-custody BTC. Texas’s move marks the first time that a US state has put money into the top cryptocurrency. While several other states are working toward making a similar move, Texas is likely to benefit from a first-mover advantage.
The following map shows the US states that have active and enacted Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) bills. Currently, there are a total of nine such states in the US, with Texas becoming the first one to actually add BTC to its SBR.
A milestone for BTC adoption
Texas making its first investment in BTC, albeit through an ETF, is a significant milestone with regard to institutional adoption of BTC. While corporate adoption of digital assets such as BTC, Ethereum, and Solana has already become a trend, governments around the world are a little more apprehensive about embracing digital assets, the country of El Salvador being an exception.
However, with Texas making the move, expect the adoption to skyrocket at a rapid pace. An increasing number of states pouring money into BTC will likely help propel the cryptocurrency’s price to new highs.
