Crypto Law Profile
Massachusetts H.5255 is a pending House bill that would authorize the state treasurer to invest specified public funds in Bitcoin, subject to a 10% account cap and custody options, and defines digital financial assets for taxation...
Massachusetts H.5255 is a pending House bill in the 194th General Court titled An Act allowing for fiscal resilience through authorization of strategic investment in stable digital financial assets. The measure would create a proposed Chapter 64O of the Massachusetts General Laws, titled Taxation and Investment in Digital Financial Assets. As of June 11, 2026, the bill remains in committee after the Joint Committee on Revenue reported a favorable new draft and referred it to the House Committee on Ways and Means on March 18, 2026.
The proposal is part of a broader set of Massachusetts digital-asset bills but is narrower than a comprehensive licensing regime. Its central focus is public-fund investment authority, custody, and tax treatment for digital financial assets. The bill should be read as proposed legislation only; it has not been enacted and the text states that its operative section would take effect only upon enactment.
H.5255 would authorize the state treasurer to invest public funds in Bitcoin from specified accounts, including the General Fund, the Commonwealth Stabilization Fund, the State Retiree Benefits Trust Fund, and other state funds requested by the treasurer and approved by the General Court. The bill would cap such investment at 10% of the total public funds in the applicable account.
The bill’s intent section states that Massachusetts would permit the inclusion of Bitcoin and other stable digital financial assets as stores of value and potential inflation hedges for state funds. It also references public pension funds and frames the proposal around economic security, financial resilience, and flexibility in public investment decisions.
The proposed definition of “digital financial asset” is broad. It covers digital representations of value recorded on a cryptographically secured distributed ledger, including virtual currencies, cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, non-fungible tokens, and other exclusively digital assets that confer economic, proprietary, access, or similar rights. For specified taxation purposes, the bill states that digital assets would be treated as cash equivalents.
Digital assets acquired by the listed funds would have to be held directly by the state treasurer through a secure custody solution, by a qualified custodian on behalf of the state, or through an exchange-traded product issued by a registered investment company. The bill defines secure custody with requirements for government-controlled private-key access, encrypted channels, geographically diversified secure data centers, multi-party governance, logging, disaster recovery, code audits, and penetration testing.
H.5255 is a committee bill that replaced H.3279, an earlier petition by Rep. Christopher J. Worrell concerning taxation and investment in digital financial assets. H.3279 was referred to the Joint Committee on Revenue in February 2025, had hearing activity in 2025, and was accompanied by the new draft H.5255 on March 18, 2026.
The March 18, 2026 H.5255 text states that the Revenue Committee recommended the bill “ought to pass.” Legislative trackers and the Massachusetts source listing identify the current pending committee as House Ways and Means. No enacted date, effective date, floor vote, or governor action was found in the reviewed sources.
For CryptoSlate reference purposes, H.5255 is best classified as a Massachusetts state bill covering government crypto holdings, custody, taxation and reporting, and the regulatory perimeter for digital financial assets. It does not appear to create a consumer-facing licensing system for exchanges, wallet providers, or digital-asset businesses. The bill is most relevant to public finance, state treasury policy, digital-asset custody, and Bitcoin reserve proposals at the state level.
This profile is informational and should not be read as legal, tax, investment, or compliance advice.
Would let the state treasurer invest specified public funds in Bitcoin, including the General Fund, Stabilization Fund, and State Retiree Benefits Trust Fund.
Would cap Bitcoin investments at 10% of total public funds in the applicable account.
Defines digital financial assets to include virtual currency, cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, NFTs, and other exclusively digital assets with economic or access rights.
Would require acquired assets to be held through secure custody, a qualified custodian, or an exchange-traded product issued by a registered investment company.
The bill states that Section 1 would take effect upon enactment; no enacted or operative date was found.
Original petition by Rep. Christopher J. Worrell was referred to the Joint Committee on Revenue; Senate concurred.
H.3279 hearing activity was scheduled for October 7, 2025, before later new-draft action.
House No. 5255 bill text was filed as a new draft proposing Chapter 64O.
Revenue Committee reported the new draft favorably and the bill was referred to House Ways and Means.
House Joint Committee on Revenue, House Ways and Means Committee, Massachusetts General Court, Massachusetts State Treasurer
Bitcoin, Digital assets, Stablecoins
Pending Massachusetts House bill. Profile is descriptive and does not state that public-fund Bitcoin investment authority exists unless H.5255 is enacted.
