26-3-2025 – North Carolina’s lawmakers are weighing up innovative proposals to establish the North Carolina Investment Authority (NCIA), a new independent body tasked with steering the state’s investment strategies. This comes as Republican legislators in both the Senate and House of Representatives push forward with the 2025 State Investment Modernization Act, tabled in the House on March 24 and the Senate a day later. The initiative positions North Carolina as the 19th American state to explore Bitcoin-related legislation, with the NCIA potentially allowed to channel up to 5% of its funds into digital assets.
The proposed NCIA, detailed in bills H506 and S709, would oversee a broad portfolio, including retirement systems, general funds, and special reserves. Governed by a five-member board chaired by the state treasurer—who would hand-pick the other experts—the authority would appoint a chief investment officer to manage daily operations and staffing. Set to take shape by July 1 and fully launch on January 1, 2026, the agency would enjoy exemptions from certain state rules while adhering to fresh transparency and governance standards, particularly for handling less liquid investments like digital currencies.
Yet, the NCIA isn’t the only game in town. Competing legislation, introduced in February via bills H92 and S327, suggests a more ambitious plunge into digital assets, permitting up to 10% of state funds to flow into this arena. These rival proposals, also backed solely by Republicans, include quirky twists: a Bitcoin Economic Advisory Board would be formed under the Senate version, and liquidating Bitcoin holdings would require a hefty two-thirds approval from the General Assembly. Only digital assets with a market cap exceeding $750 billion—currently just Bitcoin—would qualify, alongside exchange-traded funds. House Speaker Destin Hall has championed H92, aligning it with former President Trump’s vision of a national Bitcoin reserve, a concept cemented by a federal executive order on March 7.
Not everyone’s cheering, though. The State Employees Association of North Carolina has voiced unease, warning that retirees and taxpayers—past, present, and future—shouldn’t have their promised benefits gambled on a volatile currency like Bitcoin. These alternative bills remain under scrutiny in committee. Meanwhile, North Carolina’s broader stance on digital finance shines through its September anti-central bank digital currency (CBDC) law, which defied a gubernatorial veto to ban state involvement in CBDC trials. This echoes a national trend, with the U.S. House passing the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act in May—its Senate counterpart still lingers in the Banking Committee—while the Federal Reserve insists it won’t touch a CBDC without Congress’s green light.