North Carolina Bill Would Add Crypto to State Retirement System

legislators in North Carolina have introduced two bills in the House and Senate that could allow the state treasurer to allocate up to 5% of various state retirement funds to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

Representative Brenden Jones introduced the "Investment Modernization Act" (House Bill 506) on March 24, which would establish an independent investment entity under the state treasurer to determine which digital assets are suitable for inclusion in the state retirement fund. On March 25, the state Senate introduced a similar bill, the "State Investment Modernization Act" (Senate Bill 709).

These bills define digital assets as cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), or any other asset with electronic characteristics that confer economic, ownership, or usage rights. The North Carolina bills do not set a market value standard for digital assets, which sets them apart from other cryptocurrency bills currently being considered at the state level.