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Arizona Proposal: Considering Adding Bitcoin Spot ETF to Retirement Fund Investment Portfolio

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Arizona Proposal: Considering Adding Bitcoin Spot ETF to Retirement Fund Investment Portfolio

The Arizona Senate recently passed a resolution urging lawmakers and the state retirement fund to consider including Bitcoin spot ETFs in their investment portfolios.

Arizona Retirement Plans Considering Bitcoin ETF?

Less than a month after the launch of a Bitcoin spot ETF, the Arizona State Senate has proposed to "encourage" the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS) and the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS) to further observe the Bitcoin spot ETF and consider whether to include it in their retirement fund investments.

The resolution was passed by the Senate at the end of last month with a vote of 16 to 13, with senators following party lines, all Democratic members voting against it. It is now awaiting review by the House Appropriations Committee.

Republican State Senator Wendy Rogers, who had previously pushed for Bitcoin to be recognized as legal tender in the state in 2022 but was never reviewed by a committee, voted in favor of the retirement fund measure and tweeted that it helps promote Arizona's cryptocurrency-friendly image.

Resolution Not Mandatory

If the resolution passes, ASRS and PSPRS would be required to provide a report on the feasibility, related risks, and potential returns of investing in digital asset ETFs, including a list of recommendations on how to safely invest in digital assets.

As a parallel resolution, the measure can be implemented with the support of both the House and Senate without requiring approval from the Arizona Governor, but it does not carry the same legal weight as a law.

This is not the first time states have considered exposing retirement funds and plans to cryptocurrency, but the passage of a Bitcoin spot ETF seems to increase the feasibility.

The Houston Firefighters Relief and Retirement Fund in Texas announced in 2021 that they purchased $25 million worth of BTC and ETH through asset management firm NYDIG; the Fairfax Police Officers Retirement System in Virginia started investing in cryptocurrencies in 2019, including a $50 million investment in Morgan Creek Capital's blockchain fund.

In 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a warning and announced investigations into trust fund institutions, while also highlighting the five common risks associated with cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrency is gradually becoming a target for retirement investment plans, with the U.S. Department of Labor issuing five warnings: investigations into relevant trust fund institutions pending