A South Dakota lawmaker has renewed efforts to establish a state-level Bitcoin reserve by reintroducing legislation that would allow public investment funds to allocate a portion of their assets to the cryptocurrency after a similar proposal failed last year.
Republican State Representative Logan Manhart submitted House Bill 1155 this week, seeking authorisation for South Dakota to invest up to 10% of its state-managed investment funds in Bitcoin. The proposal would permit exposure either through direct holdings of the asset or via approved exchange-traded products linked to Bitcoin’s price.
Manhart’s renewed push comes amid concerns over the performance of South Dakota’s investment portfolio, which helps fund public services including education, healthcare, and retirement systems. According to the South Dakota Investment Council’s 2025 annual report, the state managed $20.56 billion in assets last year but achieved a return of just 5.5%, significantly below its benchmark target of 12.5%. The bulk of the portfolio remains concentrated in public equities, with smaller allocations to real estate and fixed-income assets.
The lawmaker previously attempted to introduce a Bitcoin reserve in January last year, but the measure was effectively killed a month later when it was deferred beyond the state’s 40-day legislative session. The House Commerce and Energy Committee voted 9–3 to postpone the bill until the 41st legislative day, a procedural move commonly used to block legislation without a direct vote.
Manhart’s latest proposal is part of a broader wave of crypto-focused legislation sweeping across the United States, fuelled in part by President Donald Trump’s increasingly vocal support for digital assets. Announcing the bill on social media, Manhart described Bitcoin as a foundation for a “strong state,” echoing arguments that the asset could serve as a hedge against inflation and long-term fiscal underperformance.
Across the country, lawmakers in nearly 30 states have introduced some form of Bitcoin reserve or digital asset legislation. However, the majority of these efforts have failed to advance. Data from Bitcoin Laws’ strategic reserve tracker shows that 33 proposals have already been rejected, most during early committee reviews. Only nine active proposals across six states remain under consideration.
So far, just three states—Arizona, New Hampshire, and Texas—have successfully passed Bitcoin reserve-related laws, though actual implementation has been limited. Arizona has authorised a reserve consisting only of seized digital assets, after broader proposals were blocked by the governor. New Hampshire allows up to 5% of state funds to be invested in digital assets with a market capitalisation exceeding $500 billion, effectively limiting eligibility to Bitcoin, although it is unclear whether any purchases have been made. Texas, meanwhile, has approved Bitcoin investments but has allocated only $5 million to date.
Despite the mixed track record, momentum behind state-level crypto initiatives continues to build. Recent legislative activity in states such as Kansas and Arizona suggests that Bitcoin’s role in public finance remains an active and evolving debate, with South Dakota once again testing whether political appetite has shifted.
