Overview
- The Texas Comptroller posted a request for proposals on May 7 for a firm to convert the state’s roughly $10 million IBIT exposure into directly held Bitcoin and to provide custody, liquidity and reporting services with proposals due June 15.
- The RFP requires the winning vendor to buy, hold, manage, report and securely store Bitcoin in the name of the State of Texas and to complete the conversion within 60 days of contract execution.
- Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock announced a five‑member Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Advisory Committee on May 28–29 to advise on custody, valuation, risk controls and public reporting and to produce biennial public reports.
- The procurement mandates institutional‑grade key management, operational controls and a public website showing reserve holdings and values, shifting operational responsibility away from BlackRock’s IBIT structure to a state‑arranged custodian.
- Texas is the only U.S. state so far to put taxpayer funds behind a Bitcoin reserve and its move creates an operational template while federal plans for a national reserve continue to face legal and implementation questions.