Texas HB 815 would let each city, county buy up to $10 million in crypto with no market-cap floor

Texas cities and counties could invest up to $10 million each in Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency under House Bill 815, filed November 9 by Democratic Rep. Ron Reynolds. Unlike the state’s own reserve, the bill sets no market-cap minimum.

The proposal has not become law. According to the filing record described in the report, Reynolds is listed as its author and the measure has not received a committee referral. Its proposed September 1, 2027 effective date depends on legislative passage.

Reynolds, a Democrat representing Missouri City, is seeking permission for voluntary purchases. The bill would neither require local governments to acquire cryptocurrency nor provide state funding for those acquisitions.

Bitcoin investment limit would apply to each city and county

HB 815 would cover funds belonging to a municipality or county, along with money under its control. Each eligible local government would have its own $10 million limit, rather than drawing from a single statewide allocation.

That distinction determines the scope of the Bitcoin investment proposal. The cap applies separately to participating municipalities and counties; it is not a $10 million programme shared among all local authorities in Texas.

The legislation sets no minimum purchase amount. A city or county could choose whether to use the proposed authority, subject to the bill becoming law.

School districts are excluded from the new permission. Although the Public Funds Investment Act applies to a wider range of public entities, HB 815 specifically names municipalities and counties.

The two-section measure establishes the proposed investment authority and its effective date. It does not create a separate municipal cryptocurrency reserve or specify which digital assets local governments should hold.

State reserve’s market-cap requirement would not carry over

The Bitcoin investment measure uses definitions from Section 403.701 of the Government Code, introduced through Senate Bill 21 in 2025.

That section defines Bitcoin through its decentralised, peer-to-peer network, operating independently of a central authority or bank. Its broader cryptocurrency definition covers virtual currencies secured through cryptography and recorded on distributed ledgers such as blockchains.

However, HB 815 does not incorporate the separate eligibility restriction applied to purchases for the state reserve.

Under that framework, an asset must have averaged at least $500 billion in market capitalisation over the preceding 24 months. The local-government proposal references the definitions without importing that financial threshold.

Consequently, the Bitcoin investment authority would also permit purchases of other cryptocurrencies. The introduced text contains neither a replacement market-cap floor nor an approved list of tokens.

The proposal also differs from the reserve framework in its treatment of custody and oversight. The state’s reserve provisions allow the comptroller to contract with a qualified custodian using secure technologies, including cold storage, and to commission an independent audit.

HB 815 contains no corresponding cryptocurrency-specific custody or audit provisions. That omission describes the bill’s contents; it does not establish that local governments would operate outside other applicable public-funds requirements.

Earlier Bitcoin investment proposal included $250 million state allocation

Reynolds previously introduced a broader measure in March 2025.

That bill, HB 4258, proposed allowing the comptroller to invest up to $250 million from the Economic Stabilization Fund in Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency. It also included the same $10 million allowance for municipalities and counties.

The earlier proposal separated the state and local authorities into different sections. Its $250 million ceiling applied to the comptroller’s proposed investments, while the smaller limit applied to eligible local governments.

HB 815 narrows the Bitcoin investment proposal by leaving out the Economic Stabilization Fund provision entirely.

It also changes the source of the definitions. Rather than supplying its own descriptions of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, as the earlier measure did, the new bill refers to definitions in the subsequently enacted reserve legislation.

The earlier introduced version proposed a September 1, 2025 start date. The new filing instead sets September 1, 2027 as its prospective effective date.

State reserve follows separate custody process

Texas has pursued its own Bitcoin investment arrangements through a separate reserve initiative.

In November 2025, the state purchased $5 million in BlackRock exchange-traded fund shares as an interim allocation within that $10 million initiative, according to reporting cited in the story.

By May 29, 2026, reports placed its exposure through BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust at approximately $10 million.

A procurement process sought firms capable of purchasing, holding, managing and reporting qualifying assets for the state. Requirements included key management, operational controls and secure storage in the state’s name.

The procurement also envisaged moving from ETF exposure to directly custodied Bitcoin within 60 days of contract execution. The selected provider would be required to develop a public website showing reserve holdings and values.

Those arrangements concern the state reserve and do not establish equivalent procedures for municipalities and counties under HB 815.

The local Bitcoin investment proposal remains at the filing stage. Its central choice is whether to extend optional cryptocurrency purchasing authority to cities and counties while leaving out the asset-size restriction used by the state’s own reserve.