State comptroller seeks provider to manage first official state Bitcoin reserve
Texas is transitioning its $10 million Bitcoin allocation from BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) into direct custody, positioning itself as the first state to openly purchase and hold Bitcoin as a reserve asset.
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts issued a request for proposals on May 7 to select a custody provider for the reserve. The winning firm will have 60 days after contract signing to migrate the existing IBIT holdings into directly custodied Bitcoin and manage all future acquisitions, sales, ongoing management, and reporting.
Kelly Hancock, Acting Comptroller, leads the initiative. The state had previously held its Bitcoin allocation in IBIT as a temporary position while developing a longer-term strategy.
The reserve was established through state legislation backed by supporters who argued Bitcoin could serve as a hedge against inflation and economic volatility. The custody provider will be required to maintain a public website displaying real-time Bitcoin holdings and valuations, establishing a transparency standard for state-level cryptocurrency management.
The advisory committee overseeing the reserve includes Laurie Dotter, an investment executive; Jamie McAvity, founder and CEO of Cormint Data Systems; Carla Reyes, a digital asset law professor at Southern Methodist University; and Gary Vecchiarelli, president and CFO of CleanSpark. The committee covers custody arrangements, risk management, and reporting performance to lawmakers.
The RFP language leaves room for the reserve to eventually hold assets beyond Bitcoin, though the state has not specified which other large-cap cryptocurrencies it is considering. Texas has not disclosed the total amount it plans to eventually hold across these assets.
At the time of the May 29 announcement, Bitcoin was trading at $73,513 per coin on spot markets. The custody transition reflects a broader shift among institutional and governmental entities toward direct Bitcoin ownership rather than reliance on financial intermediaries.
The state did not disclose which firms have submitted or are expected to submit proposals for the custody contract.
