Crypto Law Profile
Ohio H.B. 18 would create or support a state digital-asset reserve framework and adjust public-fund investment authority. It remains in House committee as of the latest located status.
The Ohio Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve Act is the short-title label for Ohio House Bill 18 in the 136th General Assembly. As of June 9, 2026, the bill remains a pending Ohio House measure in the House Technology and Innovation Committee, with the latest located committee status showing a fifth hearing on Oct. 14, 2025. It has not been enacted, so no effective date applies.
H.B. 18 sits within a broader set of state-level proposals that explore whether public entities should hold or gain exposure to digital assets. For CryptoSlate readers, the bill is most relevant to Ohio public finance, state treasury investment powers, retirement-system investment authority, and the custody standards that would apply if the state acquired digital assets or digital-asset-linked products.
The introduced bill would amend several sections of the Ohio Revised Code governing public retirement systems and lottery funds and would enact a new section 135.146 addressing state digital-asset investments. In the introduced text, “digital asset” is defined broadly to include virtual currency, cryptocurrency, native electronic assets, stablecoins, non-fungible tokens, and other digital-only assets that confer economic, proprietary, access, or similar rights.
As introduced, H.B. 18 would permit the Ohio Treasurer of State to invest interim moneys from the General Revenue Fund, the Budget Stabilization Fund, and the deferred prizes trust fund in digital assets, subject to statutory limits. The introduced version caps such investments at 10% of the relevant fund balance at the time of investment. It also limits eligible assets to exchange-traded products and to digital assets with an average market capitalization of at least $750 billion over the preceding 12 months, as determined by the Treasurer using a commercially reasonable method.
The introduced text includes detailed custody requirements. A digital asset acquired under proposed section 135.146 would have to be held directly by the Treasurer through a secure custody solution, by a qualified custodian on behalf of the state, or in the form of an exchange-traded product issued by a registered investment company. The bill also would allow the Treasurer to loan acquired digital assets for additional returns only if the Treasurer determines that doing so does not increase financial risk to the applicable fund.
H.B. 18 also addresses state retirement systems. The introduced text adds language to several retirement-system investment statutes stating that nothing in those sections prohibits a board from investing in an exchange-traded product as defined in the proposed reserve statute. The bill does not itself direct a retirement board to purchase a specific digital asset.
The bill was introduced on Jan. 23, 2025, by Rep. Steve Demetriou, with Republican cosponsors Tex Fischer, Mark Johnson, Angela King, Brian Lorenz, Ty Mathews, and Josh Williams. It was referred to the House Technology and Innovation Committee on Jan. 28, 2025. Later tracking materials indicate that the committee accepted a substitute bill on May 27, 2025, amended the bill on Oct. 7, 2025, and held a fifth hearing on Oct. 14, 2025.
Those later materials describe the measure as creating an Ohio Strategic Reserve Fund, permitting the Treasurer to invest interest earnings from certain state funds in digital assets, and naming the bill the Ohio Strategic Reserve Act. Because the public bill text located for this profile still shows the introduced version, editors should verify the latest substitute or amended text before treating any provision as final.
H.B. 18 is a pending bill, not an operative law. It would affect state-level investment authority and public-fund governance if enacted. It does not provide legal, tax, investment, or trading guidance for private market participants.
Substitute bill materials describe an Ohio Strategic Reserve Fund in Treasurer custody, outside the state treasury, for digital-asset exposure.
Introduced text allowed digital-asset investments from specified state funds, capped at 10% of fund balance; substitute materials refer to interest earnings.
Introduced section 135.146 limited investments to exchange-traded products with at least $750B average market capitalization over the prior 12 months.
Introduced text required secure custody, a qualified custodian, or ETP form, and permitted lending only if it did not increase fund risk.
The bill would clarify that Ohio retirement boards are not prohibited from investing in qualifying exchange-traded products.
H.B. 18 introduced by Rep. Steve Demetriou in the 136th General Assembly.
Referred to the House Technology and Innovation Committee.
House Technology and Innovation held a first hearing with sponsor testimony.
Committee materials indicate a substitute bill was accepted and reframed reserve-fund mechanics.
Tracking materials report a bill amendment during the fourth committee hearing.
Latest located status shows a fifth hearing in House Technology and Innovation.
Ohio General Assembly, Ohio House Technology and Innovation Committee, Ohio retirement systems, Ohio Treasurer of State
Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Digital assets, Exchange-traded products
Pending bill profile. Committee materials indicate a substitute bill accepted May 27, 2025, later reframed the measure around an Ohio Strategic Reserve Fund and interest earnings from certain state funds. Verify the latest substitute or amended text before publication.
