A Texas House Committee has passed a Republican-backed bill to create a Bitcoin reserve, which now only needs a successful full floor vote before heading to the governor’s desk.

The Texas House Committee on Delivery of Government Efficiency passed Senate Bill 21 with no amendments on May 7 in a 9-4 vote along party lines. The bill has already passed the Texas Senate, in a 25-5 vote on March 6.

SB 21 would establish the “Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve,” controlled by the state’s comptroller — currently Glenn Hegar — who would be permitted to invest in digital assets that have obtained a market cap of at least $500 billion over the last twelve months, which would currently only include Bitcoin (BTC).

Source: Pierre Rochard

Republican Senator Charles Schwertner initially introduced SB 21 in January as a Bitcoin-only bill.

However, the bill was refiled to include the potential inclusion of other digital assets in February.

Bitcoin Laws founder Julian Fahrer said on X that the fate of SB 21 should be determined before June 2, when the Texas legislature adjourns.

If the bill sees a successful full floor vote, it would head to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk. Abbott expressed his desire to make Texas the “crypto capital” of the US in November and accepted Bitcoin donations as part of his campaign in 2014 

Two Bitcoin reserve bills now signed into law

The Texas vote comes the same day as Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs signed a bill into law that allowed the state to keep unclaimed crypto and establish a Bitcoin and Digital Asset Reserve Fund that won’t use taxpayer or state funds.

The state can also stake abandoned crypto to earn rewards or receive airdrops, which can then be deposited into its crypto fund.

Related: Swedish MP proposes Bitcoin reserve to finance minister

New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte also signed House Bill 302 into law days earlier on May 6, allowing the state’s treasury to use funds to invest in cryptocurrencies with a market cap of more than $500 billion.

Florida, however, removed two Bitcoin reserve bills on May 3 — a day when state lawmakers passed 230 bills ranging from prohibiting putting fluoride in water, protecting state parks, and banning smartphone use in schools.

Magazine: Adam Back says Bitcoin price cycle is ’10x bigger’, has ’empathy’ for ETF buyers

Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin mining firm Core Scientific Inc. posted a net profit of $580 million with its first quarter results, but missed analyst revenue estimates after a drop in its mining profits.

Core Scientific’s Q1 2025 results, shared on May 7, saw it more than double its $210 million net income from the year-ago quarter, while its total revenue reached $79.5 million, missing Zacks analysts’ estimates by 8.11%, and falling from its $179.3 million in revenues for Q1 2024. 

The firm’s primary source of revenue came from $67.2 million in self-mining revenue, $3.8 million in hosted mining revenue, and $8.6 million in colocation, formerly listed as high-performance computing (HPC) hosting.

Source: Core Scientific

Core Scientific said its drop in Bitcoin (BTC) mined and revenue was due to the halving on April 20, 2024, when mining rewards were cut from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, and its operational shift to HPC hosting, primarily used for artificial intelligence.

However, the losses were partially offset by a 74% increase in the average price of Bitcoin and a 33% decrease in power costs due to lower rates and usage. 

As part of its HPC hosting shift, Core Scientific inked a deal in February with AI startup CoreWeave for a $1.2 billion data center expansion. As a result, Core Scientific anticipates entering 2026 with annualized colocation revenue of $360 million.

Inflection point for miners in AI shift

Core Scientific CEO Adam Sullivan said in a statement that its first quarter was an “inflection point,” as the firm positioned itself at the “center of one of the most important shifts in modern computing,” as the demand for high-performance data infrastructure has accelerated.

Related: Robinhood beats Q1 estimates despite revenue, crypto trading dip

Shares in Core Scientific (CORZ) closed May 7 trading down 1%, falling to $8.90, according to Google Finance. However, they jumped over 3% to trade at $9.24 after the bell.

Core Scientific’s stock has jumped slightly after the bell, after dropping during the regular session. Source: Google Finance 

In an August report, asset manager VanEck estimated that if publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies shifted 20% of their energy capacity to AI and HPC by 2027, they could increase additional yearly profits by $13.9 billion over 13 years.

Riot Platforms appointed three new directors to its board in February, one of whom has experience converting Bitcoin mining assets toward HPC.

Hive Digital, Hut 8 and Iris Energy converted part of their operations to HPC and AI last year, and TeraWulf sold its stake in a Bitcoin mining facility for $92 million in October, with the proceeds marked for hosting AI and building HPC data centers. 

Magazine: Adam Back says Bitcoin price cycle is ’10x bigger’, has ’empathy’ for ETF buyers

Bitcoin has reclaimed $98,000 for the first time in almost three months after the US Federal Reserve said it would keep interest rates the same for another month.

The Fed’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged comes despite mounting pressure from US President Donald Trump, who just weeks ago threatened to fire Fed chair Jerome Powell for being “too late” in cutting rates.

Fed cites higher unemployment, inflation risk

Powell said on May 7 that the Federal Reserve rate-setting committee held rates in the 4.25% to 4.50% range due to the rising risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation.

He added inflation has “come down a great deal but has been running above our 2% longer objective.” Powell said surveys in households and businesses showed a “sharp decline in sentiment” mainly due to concerns over Trump’s trade policy.

However, Powell said that “despite heightened uncertainty, the economy is still in a solid position.” In the days leading up to the announcement, data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool indicated that the futures market expected minimal odds of a rate cut.

Powell said the unemployment rate remains low, and the labor market is “at or near maximum employment.” The market expects the Fed to drop the Fed funds rate to 3.6% by the end of 2025.

Bitcoin fell below $96,000 before retracing back above $98,000 just hours later on May 7. Source: CoinMarketCap

Bitcoin (BTC) dropped below $97,000 to $95,866 after Powell’s speech, but it shot up to tap $98,000 for the first time since Feb. 21 just hours later. 

Bitcoin momentum has been building, with the Crypto Fear & Greed Index returning to “Greed” territory, and spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) posting inflows of almost $4.41 billion since March 26.

Related: Bitcoin price rallied 1,550% the last time the ‘BTC risk-off’ metric fell this low

On March 9, network economist Timothy Peterson warned that if the Fed holds off on rate cuts in 2025, it may cause a broader market downturn, potentially dragging Bitcoin back toward $70,000.

Peterson’s forecast came after Powell said in March that “we do not need to be in a hurry and are well-positioned to wait for greater clarity.”

Magazine: Adam Back says Bitcoin price cycle is’ 10x bigger’, has’ empathy’ for ETF buyers

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.