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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT TO STUDY THE HOLDING OF BULLION AND VIRTUAL CURRENCY AND THEIR POTENTIAL BENEFITS AND WHETHER TO ESTABLISH A NORTH CAROLINA BULLION DEPOSITORY FOR SUCH ASSETS.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: SECTION 1. The Department of State Treasurer shall conduct a study that examines (i) the process of acquiring, securely storing, insuring, and liquidating any investment metal bullion as defined in G.S. 105-164.13(69), such as gold, and virtual currency as defined in G.S. 53-208.42(20), such as Bitcoin, that may be held on behalf of the State, (ii) the expected impact of allocating a portion of the General Fund to investment metal bullion and virtual currency to hedge against inflation and systemic credit risks, reduce overall portfolio volatility, and increase portfolio returns over time, and (iii) the costs, benefits, and security of utilizing a privately managed depository or another state’s depository or creating a State-administered depository in North Carolina to serve as the custodian, guardian, and administrator of certain investment metal bullion and virtual currency that may be transferred to or otherwise acquired by this State or an agency, a political subdivision, or another instrumentality of this State and to provide a repository for investors to use for such assets. The Department of State Treasurer shall 18 report on the results of the study, along with any legislative or other recommendations, to the 19 Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations by January 1, 2024.

SECTION 2. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of State Treasurer the nonrecurring sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for the 2023-2024 fiscal year to conduct the study required by this act.

SECTION 3. Section 2 of this act becomes effective July 1, 2023. The remainder of 24 this act is effective when it becomes law.

  • Distributed
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    1 year ago

    Seems a touch alarmist to say holding bitcoin makes them a broken state 😂

    • bitsplease
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      1 year ago

      Pretty sure they meant broke as in “poor”, not as in “broken”. Which is still a bit alarmist, but frankly if this were my state id be concerned if they were looking into using tax payer dollars to hold an asset as volatile as crypto

      Nothing against crypto as a concept and even a future currency, but as a speculative asset it’s incredibly risky. For an individual who understands the risks and is “betting” their own money, there’s nothing wrong with buying and holding crypto, but a government entity should be conservative with how they’re investing their tax dollars.

      Of course it’s only an “investigation”, but frankly I don’t see what an investigation could turn up that would make it seem like a safe, Low risk investment for the tax payers whose money it actually is. It’s not the governments place to make high risk investments on the part of its citizens

    • qprimed
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      1 year ago

      kneejerk reactions are, sadly, all I expect these days :-(