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Utah has advanced its Bitcoin reserve bill to the next stage of legislation, with a second and third reading in the Senate pending before a final vote.

As per the latest update, Utah’s Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee has passed the Blockchain and Digital Innovation Amendments bill (House Bill 230), bringing the state closer to recognizing Bitcoin as an official reserve asset.

Lawmakers passed the bill with a 4-2-1 vote, where all four votes in favor came from Republican senators. One Republican and one Democrat opposed the bill, while one senator was marked absent.

The bill will now undergo a second reading in the Senate, followed by a third reading for further discussion and potential amendments. If it clears both stages, the bill will proceed to a final Senate vote before heading to Governor Spencer Cox, also a Republican, for approval.

Introduced by Utah Representative Jordan Teuscher on Jan. 21, HB230 cruised through the House Economic Development Committee with an 8-1 vote. 

The bill proposes allowing the state treasurer to allocate up to 5% of certain public funds, like the General Fund Budget and State Disaster Recovery accounts, into “qualifying digital assets,” including Bitcoin, high-cap cryptocurrencies, and stablecoins. The bill also allows the treasurer to engage in crypto staking.

Meanwhile, funds can only be held by qualified custodians or through exchange-traded funds.

Currently,  20 U.S. states are considering holding cryptocurrencies as reserve assets, according to data from Bitcoin Reserve Monitor. So far, three states, namely Wyoming, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania, are the only ones that have rejected similar proposals.

Utah is leading the charge among U.S. states, having made the most progress in terms of advancing legislation. According to Satoshi Act Fund founder Dennis Porter, Utah stands out as the most likely candidate to pass a strategic Bitcoin reserve bill first. 

Despite being one of the later states to introduce such legislation, Porter believes Utah’s streamlined legislative process, which operates on a tight 45-day calendar, gives it a clear advantage.

“No one else has a faster calendar, and no one else has more political momentum and willpower to get it done,” Porter said during a recent interview.

Utah’s progress comes a day after Montana advanced its own Bitcoin reserve bill, which cleared the House Business and Labor Committee with a 12-8 vote.