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North Carolina Authorizes State Treasurer to Invest Public Funds in Qualifying Digital Assets
Original title: NC Digital Assets Investments Act.
Last action · May 1, 2025: Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate (Senate action)Sponsors: Stephen Ross and 26 others
Bill progressHistory & official text ↓
Introduced
Committee
Floor Vote
Passed
Law
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What This Bill Would Do
Official description
NC Digital Assets Investments Act.
Why it matters
Changes the permissible asset classes for North Carolina public trust funds and state reserves, potentially exposing billions of dollars in public employee retirement savings and state revenues to cryptocurrency market fluctuations. It establishes statutory security baselines for storage and mandates disaster recovery protocols for state-managed digital holdings.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Directly affected
State Treasurer
Gains statutory authorization and fiduciary responsibility to invest public cash balances in qualifying digital assets and must implement secure custody solutions for internal management.
Directly affected
Beneficiaries of State Retirement Systems
State pension and benefit funds, including the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System, are permitted to allocate a portion of their assets into digital assets.
Key Facts
- The State Treasurer is authorized to invest cash from the General Fund, Highway Fund, Highway Trust Fund, and various special funds into qualifying digital assets.
- Eligible digital assets must be exchange-traded products with an average market capitalization of at least $750,000,000,000 over the preceding 12 months.
- Investments in digital assets from any single fund are capped in the aggregate at 10% of that fund's balance at the time of investment.
- If the State Treasurer internally manages digital assets, the office must use a secure custody solution meeting strict cryptographic and physical security mandates.
Show all 7 facts
- Secure custody solutions must keep private keys exclusively known by the State Treasurer, entirely isolated from smartphones, and maintained in at least two geographically diversified secure data centers.
- Third-party investment managers handling state funds must have total assets under management of at least $100,000,000 at the inception of the arrangement.
- Existing authorized investments that experience market value changes or rating shifts do not require the State Treasurer to subsequently dispose of them or breach contractual commitments.
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of digital assets can the State Treasurer invest in?
The State Treasurer may invest in exchange-traded s—such as cryptocurrencies, virtual currencies, stablecoins, or nonfungible tokens—that are structured as s and maintain an average market capitalization of at least $750 billion over the preceding 12 months.
What percentage of state funds can be allocated to digital assets?
Investments in s from any covered fund are capped at a maximum of 10% of the fund's balance in the aggregate at the time the investment is made.
How are private keys secured if the State Treasurer manages digital assets internally?
s must be kept exclusively known and accessible by the State Treasurer inside an encrypted environment, never accessible via smartphones, stored on hardware maintained in at least two geographically diversified secure data centers, and managed under a multi-party governance structure with regular penetration testing.
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently passed chamber. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Law.
Procedural history
19 actions- May 1, 2025SenateRef To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate
- May 1, 2025SenatePassed 1st Reading
- May 1, 2025SenateRegular Message Received From House
- May 1, 2025HouseRegular Message Sent To Senate
- Apr 30, 2025HousePassed 3rd Reading
- Apr 30, 2025HousePassed 2nd Reading
Show 13 earlier actions
- Apr 29, 2025HousePlaced On Cal For 04/30/2025
- Apr 29, 2025HouseWithdrawn From Cal
- Apr 28, 2025HousePlaced On Cal For 04/29/2025
- Apr 28, 2025HouseCal Pursuant Rule 36(b)
- Apr 28, 2025HouseReptd Fav
- Apr 16, 2025HouseRe-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
- Apr 16, 2025HouseReptd Fav Com Sub 2
- Mar 5, 2025HouseRe-ref to the Com on Pensions and Retirement, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
- Mar 5, 2025HouseSerial Referral To Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House Stricken
- Mar 5, 2025HouseReptd Fav Com Substitute
- Feb 12, 2025HouseRef to the Com on Commerce and Economic Development, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
- Feb 12, 2025HousePassed 1st Reading
- Feb 10, 2025HouseIntroducedFiled
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Show 22 more sponsors
LoweryHouseCosponsorNo profile match
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
policy shift99% confidence
Expansion of State Investment Portfolio into Virtual Assets
The legislation marks a significant statutory shift by allowing public retirement systems and state cash balances to hold exchange-traded cryptocurrency products under strict security mandates.
Connected Entities
OrganizationState Property Fire Insurance Fund“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationDisability Income Plan of North Carolina“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationNational Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations national market system“Exchange standard reference for qualifying exchange-traded products.”Map →
OrganizationTeachers' and State Employees' Retirement System of North Carolina“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationCatawba Unit No. 2 Decommissioning Trust Fund“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationLegislative Retirement System of North Carolina“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationNorth Carolina Municipal Power Agency Number 1“Established Catawba decommissioning trust funds.”Map →
OrganizationLiability Insurance Trust Fund“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationDisability Salary Continuation Income Plan of North Carolina“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationState Treasurer“Authorized to invest state cash and special funds in digital assets.”Map →
OrganizationState Education Assistance Authority“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationRiparian Buffer Restoration Fund“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationConservation Grant Fund“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationNorth Carolina Conservation Easement Endowment Fund“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationEcosystem Restoration Fund“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationInvestment Advisory Committee“Consulted periodically in developing industry standard portfolio guidelines for ”Map →
OrganizationSwain County Settlement Trust Fund“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationNew York Stock Exchange“Exchange standard reference for qualifying exchange-traded products.”Map →
OrganizationUnited States Securities and Exchange Commission“Designates national securities exchanges or systems under 17 C.F.R. § 230.146(b)”Map →
OrganizationCatawba Unit No. 1 Decommissioning Trust Fund“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationNorth Carolina Veterans Home Trust Fund“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationState Public Education Property Insurance Fund“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationConsolidated Judicial Retirement System of North Carolina“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationWildlife Endowment Fund“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationNeeds-Based Public School Capital Fund“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationNorth Carolina Firefighters' and Rescue Squad Workers' Pension Fund“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationFinancial Accounting Standards Board“Promulgates United States generally accepted accounting principles.”Map →
OrganizationNorth Carolina State Lottery Fund“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationUniversity of North Carolina Hospitals at Chapel Hill“Holds funds deposited with the State Treasurer.”Map →
OrganizationNorth Carolina Community College System“Colleges hold institutional funds deposited with the State Treasurer.”Map →
OrganizationNorth Carolina Secretary of State“Empowered to determine by rule whether exchange listing standards are substantia”Map →
OrganizationNorth Carolina Local Governmental Employees' Retirement System“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationNorth Carolina National Guard Pension Fund“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationRetiree Health Benefit Fund“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationState Health Plan for Teachers and State Employees“Special fund subject to investment provisions under G.S. 147-69.2.”Map →
OrganizationAmerican Stock Exchange“Exchange standard reference for qualifying exchange-traded products.”Map →
Sources
Open source document
www.ncleg.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance80How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy65Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment15Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz75Current news / social attention level
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