The Arizona Senate Rules Committee passes SB 1649, proposing the establishment of a Digital Asset Strategic Reserve Fund.

Techub News reports, according to Decrypt, the Arizona Senate has advanced Senate Bill 1649, which proposes the establishment of a "Digital Asset Strategic Reserve Fund" managed by the state Treasury Department. It authorizes the state treasurer to hold, invest, and lend digital assets that are seized, forfeited, or surrendered to the state through qualified custodians or regulated exchange-traded products. The bill was passed by the Senate Finance Committee on February 16 with a vote of 4 in favor and 2 against, and was approved by the Senate Rules Committee on February 23. It will now be submitted for a full Senate vote. The bill lists Bitcoin, XRP, DigiByte, stablecoins, and NFTs as qualified assets. It uses 1% of Bitcoin's value when it reaches $100,000 per coin as a benchmark threshold and employs a "Cryptocurrency Fair Value Score" to screen other eligible digital assets. Related operations must ensure they do not increase the state's fiscal risk. The bill must first pass the full Senate, then be submitted to the House of Representatives for consideration, and finally be signed by the Governor to take effect.