A bill filed in the Arizona State Senate recommends including Bitcoin ETFs in the state’s retirement plan portfolio for government employees. The adoption of digital assets was proposed in Senate Concurrent Resolution 1016, filed by State Senator Jake Hoffman and Representatives Warren Petersen and Joseph Chaplik.
The non-binding resolution highlights the explosive market interest in Bitcoin and Bitcoin ETFs since the approval of 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs in January, with the top cryptocurrency having a market capitalization of over $1.3 trillion. It was pointed out that the applicant company has global assets under management. Bitcoin ETFs are worth more than $16 trillion.
The resolution states that the state already has a pension plan that includes other high-value assets such as gold and silver in the form of ETFs.
“The federal government holds approximately 200,000 Bitcoins. Arizona’s retirement systems have an obligation to serve the best interests of their members.”
Although the proposed bill is focused on Bitcoin, the document leaves the door open for other digital asset-based ETFs, such as the highly anticipated Ethereum ETF, which the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is considering.
“Given the evolving regulatory environment and growing market capitalization, the Arizona State Retirement System and the Public Safety Officers’ Retirement System are working with the State Treasurer’s Office to evaluate the potential risks and benefits of investing in Bitcoin and digital asset ETFs. That’s important.” The resolution explains:
In evaluating Bitcoin and digital asset ETFs, supporters of the resolution urged state retirement systems to review the feasibility, risks and benefits of investing in digital assets and asked key state officials to submit recommendations.
The resolution’s authors did not respond to a request for comment. decryption.
The benefits of including Bitcoin in pension plans were argued separately four years ago by entrepreneur and investor Anthony Pompliano.
“In December 2018, I wrote to this group in a letter titled ‘All Pension Funds Should Buy Bitcoin’ with an explanation of why all public pension funds should buy Bitcoin,” Pom said. “In the same letter, I went on to explain that pension funds could have a real impact if they invested just 1% of their assets in Bitcoin,” Pliano wrote on Twitter, pointing to an excerpt from the letter.
Government pension funds across the country are struggling to meet their obligations to retirees. According to Pompliano, if every state pension fund purchased a 1% exposure to Bitcoin in 2018, there would be 14 fully funded state pension funds instead of just four.
“You can’t change what has already happened. So we have to move forward,” Pompliano continued. “There are many who argue that pension funds should not be buying Bitcoin today because the returns have already been captured. I don’t agree with this thought process.”
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
