New Hampshire’s Executive Council voted 3-2 on July 8 to reject a proposed $100 million municipal bond backed by Bitcoin, halting a Business Finance Authority (BFA) initiative that aimed to integrate BTC collateral into a state-linked public finance framework.
The BFA’s board had initially approved the bond issuance in November 2023, but the proposal required additional approval from the Governor and Executive Council to proceed. That final approval was not granted.
According to the Boston Globe, councilors opposed the plan after a motion to defer consideration failed to gain a second. The rejection highlights ongoing tensions between cryptocurrency adoption and public finance protocols.
The bond was structured by Wave Digital Assets, Rosemawr Management, and the BFA, with Orrick advising the authority and BitGo Trust Company managing Bitcoin collateral. Proponents emphasized that taxpayer funds and state guarantees would not be exposed to repayment risk.
Moody’s provisionally rated the bonds as Ba2, marking a milestone in crypto-asset integration into traditional credit markets. The proposal linked BTC pledged collateral to a loan for NH CleanSpark Borrower Trust 2026-1.
The outcome underscores public finance officials’ caution in adopting Bitcoin as collateral, even in structures designed to isolate institutional risk. While the BFA retains the option to reintroduce the proposal, this iteration failed to bridge the gap between crypto credit mechanisms and municipal bond approval processes.
