The New Hampshire Secretary of State’s office announced that lawmakers would discuss issuing $100 million in bonds backed by Bitcoin (BTC) at a public hearing.
In an update to the New Hampshire governor and executive council agenda, the state’s Business Finance Authority (BFA) has scheduled a meeting for Wednesday regarding the proposed issuance of $100 million in BTC-backed bonds. The BFA approved the bond in November 2025, saying that it planned to issue the vehicles upon approval from Governor Kelly Ayotte and the state’s five-member executive council.
“This is an innovative way to bring more investment opportunities to our state and position us as a leader in digital finance without risking state funds or taxpayer dollars,” said Ayotte on the bonds, following the BFA approval.
The potential high-value Bitcoin-backed bonds signaled the US state’s move toward friendlier digital asset policies. New Hampshire was the first state to approve a law establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve in May 2025, allowing the government to invest 5% of public funds in digital assets with a market capitalization exceeding $500 billion.
New Hampshire governor signing the May 2025 crypto reserve bill into law. Source: Kelly Ayotte
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Unlike traditional municipal bonds, a BTC-backed bond could be an innovative financial instrument, but one that potentially introduces “substantial risk,” according to David Krause, an emeritus associate professor of finance at Marquette University. Krause authored an analysis of the proposed bond in April, saying that while a private borrower, CleanSpark, was putting up the funds for collateral, this approach offered “no recourse to state funds or taxpayers.”
“While the bond may serve as a proof of concept for integrating digital assets into structured finance, it is not well suited as a general-purpose public finance tool,” said the professor. “Its primary significance lies in highlighting the challenges of adapting traditional financial frameworks to highly volatile digital assets.”
In March, Moody’s assigned the Bitcoin bond a provisional Ba2 rating, falling under the company’s “speculative grade” category for vehicles with substantial credit risk.
El Salvador’s Bitcoin-backed bond project fizzled out
Although New Hampshire may become one of the first US states to issue Bitcoin-backed bonds, the idea previously gained traction in El Salvador.
Under President Nayib Bukele, who also pushed for a law that later established Bitcoin as legal tender in the country, El Salvador’s government announced $1 billion in Bitcoin-backed “Volcano Bonds” to fund a proposed Bitcoin City project. Proposed in 2022, the idea never came to fruition following a crypto market downturn.
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