South Carolina lawmakers have launched an ambitious initiative with the “Strategic Digital Assets Reserve Act” allowing the state treasurer to delve into cryptocurrency investments. The bill named H4256 empowers the treasurer to allocate up to 10% of various state-managed funds including the General and Budget Stabilization Reserve Funds into digital assets with a staggering upper limit of one million Bitcoins.

This legislation mandates that digital assets be securely managed either directly by the state treasurer or through qualified custodians and prohibits the lending of these assets. Advocates highlight the bill’s potential to shield the state’s finances from inflation and economic turbulence while diversifying its investment portfolio. To ensure accountability and transparency all digital assets’ public addresses will be displayed on an official state website complemented by biennial financial reports and regular audits.

Joining a trend seen across the US South Carolina’s move could transform it into a hub for digital finance. Prior to this S0163 was introduced focusing on digital asset regulation and promoting rural development through cryptocurrency mining without imposing specific mining taxes or zoning restrictions.