Massachusetts S.2008: Purchasing Power of State Funds

The introduced text would authorize the state treasurer and public pension funds to consider Bitcoin and other stable digital financial assets in investment strategies designed to support economic security and financial resilience. The bill does not create a private crypto licensing regime. Instead, it focuses on state asset management, retirement-fund investment exposure, custody controls, and tax treatment for certain digital-asset activity.

• Public-fund Bitcoin authority. The state treasurer could invest public funds in Bitcoin from the General Fund, Commonwealth Stabilization Fund, State Retiree Benefits Trust Fund, or another state fund requested by the treasurer and approved by the General Court.
• Allocation limit. The treasurer’s Bitcoin investment authority would be capped at 10% of the total public funds in the applicable account.
• Retirement-fund exposure. A state retirement fund could invest in exchange-traded products registered by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or the Massachusetts Securities Division.
• Custody routes. Digital assets acquired by listed funds could be held directly through a secure custody solution, by a qualified custodian, or through an exchange-traded product issued by a registered investment company.

S.2008 defines “Bitcoin,” “digital financial asset,” “exchange-traded product,” “private key,” “qualified custodian,” and “secure custody solution.” The proposed definition of digital financial asset is broad. It covers digital representations of value recorded on a cryptographically secured distributed ledger, including virtual currency, cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, non-fungible tokens, and other exclusively digital assets that confer economic, proprietary, or access rights. For referenced tax provisions, the text would treat digital assets as cash equivalents.

The bill would impose a 5% excise on digital gross revenues in digital currency obtained by a taxpayer, unless another law provides otherwise. It would also state that digital assets received as compensation or disposed of when held for sale to customers should be reported like comparable income of the same type. Revenue collected under the proposed chapter would be deposited in the General Fund and remain subject to appropriation. These provisions are draft legislative text only and should not be read as current Massachusetts tax law unless enacted.

The bill was filed as Senate Docket 2422 on January 17, 2025, and introduced as Senate No. 2008 on February 27, 2025. It was referred to the Joint Committee on Revenue, with the House concurring the same day. Legislative tracking sources list a committee hearing scheduled and rescheduled in fall 2025, followed by an April 1, 2026 action extending the committee reporting date to June 25, 2026. For WordPress taxonomy purposes, the best current status is In committee.