State of Florida withdraws Bitcoin reserve bills amid growing countrywide setbacks

Florida has officially stepped back from the growing movement among US states to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR). According to the Florida Senate’s website, lawmakers have indefinitely postponed and withdrawn two critical pieces of legislation, House Bill 487 and Senate Bill 550, to enable public investment in Bitcoin. Despite bipartisan support, particularly for HB 487 at the committee stage, the bills stalled early in the legislative process. Data from Bitcoin Laws confirms that neither bill advanced beyond the first committee hearing. Meanwhile, Samuel Armes, founder of the Florida Blockchain Business Association, suggested the conversation isn’t over. He noted that while the bills appear stalled, there are still ways to reintroduce the language through budget negotiations currently underway. He said: “To the person in the outside, the bills seem dead but to those on the inside, we have another month to keep pushing.” Is Bitcoin’s reserve bill momentum slowing? Florida’s retreat follows Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs’ high-profile veto of a similar proposal. Hobbs cited the absence of reliable historical data on Bitcoin’s performance as the reason for rejecting what was then the most advanced SBR bill in the nation. The retreat in Florida now adds to a broader slowdown across the country. So far, at least eight states, including Arizona, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Wyoming, have paused or abandoned similar initiatives. Nationwide, the number of states actively considering SBR-related legislation has dropped to 19, with 36 bills still under discussion. These proposals aim to reshape how states manage long-term reserves by including decentralized digital assets like Bitcoin. Meanwhile, efforts for the initiative continue at the federal level. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing the development of a national Bitcoin reserve. However, some industry experts remain skeptical of the plan. BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes argued the US is unlikely to expand its holdings due to fiscal concerns and lingering biases against Bitcoin culture. Source: https://cryptoslate.com/florida-withdraws-bitcoin-reserve-bills-amid-growing-state-hesitance/