North Carolina Urges Public Pension Funds to Invest in Cryptocurrency

North Carolina is encouraging public pension funds to consider cryptocurrency investments, reflecting a growing acceptance of digital assets in traditional finance. This move could reshape retirement fund strategies and accelerate institutional crypto adoption.

Lawmakers in North Carolina have filed House and Senate measures to put as much as 5% of retirement money into cryptocurrency. Should the policies be approved, up to 5% of the state’s retirement money will be invested in digital assets.

Presented on March 24, House Bill 506 will establish an independent investment authority in the state treasury via the Investment Modernization Act. This agency will decide if the state’s investment portfolio should contain NFTs, stablecoins, and Bitcoin. Conversely, a similar law, the State Investment Modernization Act (Senate Bill 709), was sent to the Senate just one day later, underlining bipartisan support for investigating crypto assets.

Investment choices would involve assessing risks to protect public funds; nonetheless, such activities would not harm any entities.

A second proposal under the name of the Bitcoin Reserve and Investment Act (Senate Bill 327), submitted on March 18, seeks to invest just 10% of public monies in Bitcoin exclusively. This plan calls for multi-signature cold wallets to hold Bitcoin. Liquidation would only be permitted under a serious financial crisis with two-thirds General Assembly’s agreement.

North Carolina’s projects are inspiring other states to put public money into Bitcoin.

It’s unclear whether the laws will pass, but they are definitely being drafted, which offers us a whole new perspective on the financial creativity of government agencies.

Examining cryptocurrency as an investment prospect, North Carolina legislators are leading the way in trying to update public money. Though they might not succeed, these efforts highlight the increasing use of non-cash approaches in finance.