This month New Hampshire became the first state in the country to authorize its treasury to invest in cryptocurrency.
The new law, which supporters are promoting as a “state bitcoin reserve,” is modest: It permits — but does not require — the state treasurer to invest up to 5% of state assets in bitcoin and gold. But it’s just one part of a broader push by State House Republicans to make New Hampshire an attractive place for cryptocurrency investors and developers to set up shop, mine currencies, and settle legal disputes.
“I think New Hampshire has really earned the title of ‘the granite cradle of crypto,’ ” said Free State Project Executive Director Eric Brakey, one of a chorus of crypto boosters behind the push.
The effort is fueled, in part, by a blend of crypto enthusiasm and an anti-regulatory agenda informed by libertarian-minded lawmakers and activists — many associated with the Free State Project. And it comes at a time when President Trump is heavily promoting cryptocurrency as a new frontier in finance, including issuing his own cryptocurrency earlier this year.
“I think New Hampshire has really earned the title of ‘the granite cradle of crypto.’ ”
Free State Project Executive Director Eric Brakey
In New Hampshire, influential promoters — including House Majority Leader Jason Osborne — see crypto as an opportunity to transform New Hampshire into a new haven for economic development driven by cryptocurrency.
“Basically, we decided to become the new Delaware,” Osborne said last week, referring to that state’s long held position as the place where more than half of Fortune 500 companies are incorporated.
Osborne’s comment came in an interview on X last week alongside Brakey — the Free State Project director — and Rep. Keith Ammon of New Boston, the new law’s lead author. The conversation was hosted by local bitcoin investor Bruce Fenton and also featured Dennis Porter of the Satoshi-Action Fund, a national advocacy group that pushes crypto-friendly model legislation.
“Hopefully we can now use New Hampshire’s leadership as a pathway to get this passed into law in more states,” Porter said.
And while the discussion largely focused on crypto, at times it also felt like a victory lap for the Free State Project, the libertarian political group that spurred numerous cryptocurrency advocates — including Fenton, Brakey, Osborne and Ammon — to move to New Hampshire in the first place.
“This is our home, our adopted home. It’s our forever home, and you take care of your home,” Ammon said in describing his approach to passing bills in Concord. “It’s sort of adopting a ‘New Hampshire first’ attitude.”
Banning ‘discrimination’ against digital assets
While the bill permitting state investment in crypto earned national headlines last week, several other pro-crypto bills are still working their way through the New Hampshire State House this session.
One bill, which is being pitched by Ammon as an “anti-discrimination” measure, would prevent the state from prohibiting the use of digital assets. The bill would also bar governmental bodies from imposing industry-specific regulations on blockchain businesses. Concerns over energy use and noise pollution from bitcoin mining have been contentious in other states, and some environmental groups here are fighting the bill.
The proposal would also create new legal definitions for a range of blockchain related terms and concepts, and would call for the judicial branch to set-up a new dispute docket to hear blockchain-specific lawsuits.
Another provision in the bill stipulates that businesses who provide cryptocurrency “mining” and “staking” are not offering a security or an investment contract.
That change, in particular, is being opposed by state securities regulators.
“The concern there, from the bureau’s perspective, is that it would prohibit the bureau’s ability to protect New Hampshire investors,” Katie Taylor, a lawyer with the state securities bureau, told a state Senate committee recently.
The other main blockchain bill still before New Hampshire lawmakers would create a study commission that proposes the exploration of several topics. That includes stable tokens, a digital asset pegged to the value of a commodity or currency; and real world tokenization, which would create digital representations of tangible assets, including real estate, works of art, or wine. It would also study the concept of creating blockchain-based trusts.
There are also bills tied to energy production that Republicans hope will boost crypto here. One would define “off-grid electricity providers” as entities that generate, transmit or sell electricity but remain unconnected to any existing generation or transmission system.
If built, such providers would be exempted from most state utility regulations.
Another bill would permit electric utilities to own and operate “advanced nuclear resources” which can be used to power crypto-mining enterprises. The potential development timeline for any modular nuclear generators here remains entirely speculative, but projects in other states are expected by 2030.
Governor calls for ‘guardrails’
The fate of New Hampshire’s crypto-related bills remains uncertain at this point. Gov Kelly Ayotte joined Osborne and Ammon for a photo op when she signed the state “crypto reserve” bill, but she said last week that she sees regulation as critical when it comes to blockchain currencies.
“Having economic activity with crypto, certainly we would welcome that, but you have to have guardrails in place.” Ayotte told reporters.
Concord attorney Bill Ardinger, a tax and regulatory expert who led Gov. Chris Sununu’s Commission on Cryptocurrency and Digital Assets in 2022, sounded a similar note of caution.
“This ability we are going to be creating for new energy production, and financial institutions — this is going to be a happening place.”
House Majority Leader Jason Osborne
“Blockchain is a very real technological innovation but practical applications will not grow unless federal and state governments provide a smart and sound legal framework,’ Ardinger said.
The precise shape of that policy framework — here and nationally — remains to be seen, but champions of cryptocurrency in Concord are bullish.
“This ability we are going to be creating for new energy production, and financial institutions — this is going to be a happening place,” Osborne said.
In some ways, that already appears to be true. Late last year, state bank regulators approved a charter for Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange company Crypto.com to operate a non-depository trust company here to store the assets of the exchanges of its American and Canadian clients.
For New Hampshire’s bitcoin boosters, the latest developments are a far cry from their introduction to cryptocurrency. In their recent interview on X, Fenton, Osborne and Ammon all spoke of first encountering bitcoin at Free State Project events like Porcfest, back when bitcoin — which now trades at more than $100,000 per coin — held minimal cash value.
“I remember buying a bag of ice for a bitcoin, one time,” Osborne recalled. “I also remember buying a bottle of mustard for a bitcoin.”
