Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs is facing criticism from Bitcoin supporters and some government officials after vetoing a bill that would allow the state government to hold Bitcoin in its official reserves. Known as the 'Arizona Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Bill', the legislation aimed to invest seized funds in Bitcoin and establish a reserve managed by public officials.
According to Crypto News on the 4th (local time), Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs exercised her veto on May 2nd, citing risk concerns, to prevent incorporating Bitcoin into the state government's official reserves. This decision immediately sparked backlash from the cryptocurrency community.
Casa co-founder Jameson Lopp wrote on X, "This decision will be regretted over time," and Bitcoin supporter Anthony Pompliano criticized the veto, saying, "Imagine the ignorance of believing politicians can make investment decisions." He added, "If she cannot perform better than Bitcoin, she should buy Bitcoin."
Wendy Rogers, who co-sponsored the bill with Representative Jeff Weninger, expressed disappointment and promised to reintroduce the bill in the next legislative session. "Politicians do not understand that Bitcoin does not need Arizona. Arizona needs Bitcoin," she said, pointing out that the state pension system already holds MicroStrategy stocks, which are widely recognized as a Bitcoin proxy.
Cryptocurrency lawyer Andrew Gordon also commented, "We need more elected officials who understand that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are the future."
Not everyone in the financial sector agreed with this veto. Long-time cryptocurrency critic Peter Schiff supported Hobbs' decision, arguing that the government should not "speculate in cryptocurrencies" using public funds.
Had the bill passed, Arizona would have been the first U.S. state to have a Bitcoin reserve. Similar proposals have failed in states like Oklahoma, Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes suggested that the U.S. is unlikely to significantly increase its Bitcoin holdings due to the country's rising national debt and the cultural image associated with Bitcoin investors.
In a recent interview, Hayes questioned the idea of actively building a "strategic Bitcoin reserve" beyond the approximately 200,000 BTC the U.S. already holds.
However, despite the U.S. government's lack of interest in Bitcoin purchases, public companies continue to show interest in the leading cryptocurrency.
Recently, Michael Saylor's company, Strategy, announced plans to double its capital raising to $84 billion as part of an aggressive push to acquire more Bitcoin.
The Virginia-based company disclosed that it applied for an additional $21 billion in common stock sales after exhausting the previous program of the same size approved in October. It also doubled its debt issuance target from $21 billion to $42 billion, with $14.6 billion currently remaining under the approval.
In the first quarter of this year, listed companies increased their Bitcoin holdings by 16.1%, demonstrating continued institutional interest in the leading cryptocurrency despite market volatility.
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