SB 178, as introduced: State Depository Board; allow the state treasurer to invest in Bitcoin
Document text
Research, not advice. Part of the Bitcoin research archive (October 2026). Claims labelled unverified, contested or fringe are reported, not endorsed; statuses of bills and rules are as of the date checked. Government, court and patent records are public domain; the research notes are CC BY 4.0.
25 LC 56 0310
Senate Bill 178
By: Senators Dolezal of the 27th, Beach of the 21st, Dixon of the 45th ans Esteves of the
35th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1 To amend Article 3 of Chapter 17 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
2 relating to state depositories, so as to provide for the State Depository Board to allow the
3 state treasurer to invest in Bitcoin; to provide for a limit on such investment; to provide for
4 requirements for the safe handling of such assets; to provide for the loaning of such assets;
5 to provide for definitions; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for
6 other purposes.
7 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
8 SECTION 1.
9 Article 3 of Chapter 17 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
10 state depositories, is amended by revising subsection (b) of Code Section 50-17-63, relating
11 to deposit of demand funds, investment of funds, reports, remittance of interest earned, motor
12 fuel tax revenues, as follows:
13 "(b) All departments, boards, bureaus, and other agencies of the state shall report to the
14 board, on such forms and at such times as the board may prescribe, such information as the
15 board may reasonably require concerning deposits and withdrawals pursuant to this Code
S. B. 178
-1-
25 LC 56 0310
16 section and shall enable the board to determine compliance with this Code section. Interest
17 earned on state funds withdrawn from the state treasury on approved budgets shall be
18 remitted to the Office of the State Treasurer by each department, board, bureau, or agency
19 and placed in the general fund. The board may permit the state treasurer to invest in any
20 one or more of the following: bankers' acceptances; commercial paper; bonds, bills,
21 certificates of indebtedness, notes, or other obligations of the United States and its
22 subsidiary corporations and instrumentalities or entities sanctioned or authorized by the
23 United States government including, but not limited to, obligations or securities issued or
24 guaranteed by Banks for Cooperatives regulated by the Farm Credit Administration, the
25 Commodity Credit Corporation, Farm Credit Banks regulated by the Farm Credit
26 Administration, Federal Assets Financing Trusts, the Federal Financing Bank, Federal
27 Home Loan Banks, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the Federal National
28 Mortgage Association, the Financial Assistance Corporation chartered by the Farm Credit
29 Administration, the Government National Mortgage Association, the Import-Export Bank,
30 Production Credit Associations regulated by the Farm Credit Administration, the
31 Resolution Trust Corporation, and the Tennessee Valley Authority; obligations of
32 corporations organized under the laws of this state or any other state but only if the
33 corporation has a market capitalization equivalent to $100 million; provided, however, that
34 such obligation shall be listed as investment grade by a nationally recognized rating
35 agency; the shares of any mutual fund the investments of which are limited to securities of
36 the type described in this subsection and distributions from which are treated for federal
37 income tax purposes in the same manner as the interest on said obligations, provided that
38 at the time of investment such obligations, or the obligations held by any such unit
39 investment trust or the obligations held or to be acquired by any such mutual fund, are
40 limited to obligations which are rated within one of the top two rating categories of any
41 nationally recognized rating service or any rating service recognized by the commissioner
42 of banking and finance, and no others, or to securities lending transactions involving
S. B. 178
-2-
25 LC 56 0310
43 securities of the type described in this subsection; bonds, notes, warrants, and other
44 securities not in default which are the direct obligations of the government of any foreign
45 country which the International Monetary Fund lists as an industrialized country and for
46 which the full faith and credit of such government has been pledged for the payment of
47 principal and interest, provided that such securities are listed as investment grade by a
48 nationally recognized rating agency; Bitcoin, as such term is defined in Code Section
49 50-17-68; or obligations issued, assumed, or guaranteed by the International Bank for
50 Reconstruction and Development or the International Financial Corporation, provided that
51 such securities are listed as investment grade by a nationally recognized rating agency;
52 provided, however, that interest earned on the investment of motor fuel tax revenues shall
53 be defined as motor fuel tax revenues and shall be appropriated in conformity with and
54 pursuant to Article III, Section IX, Paragraph VI(b) of the Constitution of Georgia. The
55 board may also permit the state treasurer to lend any of the securities of the type identified
56 in this subsection subject to the limitations of subsection (b) of Code Section 50-5A-7 and
57 this chapter."
58 SECTION 2.
59 Said article is further amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
60 "50-17-68.
61 (a) As used in this Code section, the term:
62 (1) 'Bitcoin' means the decentralized digital currency hosted on the public blockchain by
63 the same name.
64 (2) 'Exchange traded product' means any financial instrument that is approved by the
65 Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
66 that is traded on a federally regulated exchange and derives its value from an underlying
67 pool of assets, such as stocks, bonds, commodities, or indexes.
S. B. 178
-3-
25 LC 56 0310
68 (3) 'Private key' means a unique element of cryptographic data used for signing
69 transactions on a blockchain.
70 (4) 'Qualified custodian' means any federal or state chartered bank, trust company, or
71 special purpose depository institution or a company regulated by the state which holds
72 digital assets for an approved exchange traded product.
73 (5) 'Secure custody solution' means a technological product or blended product and
74 service which has all of the following characteristics:
75 (A) The private keys that secure digital assets are exclusively known by and accessible
76 by the government entity;
77 (B) The private keys that secure digital assets are exclusively contained within an
78 encrypted environment and accessible only via end-to-end encrypted channels;
79 (C) The private keys that secure digital assets are never contained in, accessible by, or
80 controllable via a smartphone;
81 (D) Any hardware that contains the private keys that secure digital assets is maintained
82 in at least two geographically diversified secure data centers;
83 (E) The secure custody solution enforces a multiparty governance structure for
84 authorizing transactions, enforces user access controls, and logs all user initiated
85 actions;
86 (F) The provider of the secure custody solution has implemented a disaster recovery
87 protocol that ensures customer access to assets in the event the provider becomes
88 unavailable; and
89 (G) The secure custody solution undergoes regular code audits and penetration testing
90 from audit firms.
91 (b) The board shall not permit the state treasurer to invest more than 5 percent of any fund
92 into Bitcoin.
93 (c) Any digital assets acquired pursuant to this chapter shall be held:
94 (1) Directly through the use of a secure custody solution;
S. B. 178
-4-
25 LC 56 0310
95 (2) On behalf of the state by a qualified custodian; or
96 (3) In the form of an exchange traded product issued by a registered investment
97 company.
98 (d) The board may permit the state treasurer to loan digital assets, so long as such loan
99 does not increase the financial risk to the state."
100 SECTION 3.
101 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
S. B. 178
-5-