Texas HB 815 Would Let Cities and Counties Hold $10M Each in Bitcoin

A newly pre-filed Texas bill would allow every city and county in the state to invest up to $10 million of public funds in Bitcoin and other crypto assets. House Bill 815, pre-filed on November 10, 2026 by Representative Ron Reynolds, a Democrat from Missouri City, is the first bill filed for the 90th Texas Legislature, which convenes on January 12, 2027.

The proposal amends the Public Funds Investment Act, the statute that governs where Texas public entities may park taxpayer money. Crypto assets do not currently appear on the list of permitted investments. HB 815 would add them, capping each municipality's and county's exposure at a fixed $10 million.

The bill would not mandate any purchase. It would simply create the authority — which, in public finance terms, already marks a shift. If passed, the new authority would take effect on September 1, 2027.

Who qualifies, and who does not?

HB 815 draws a clear boundary on eligibility. School districts are excluded from the new authority. Cities and counties that choose to use it would first need to revise their investment policies before moving any money.

The bill has not yet been assigned to a committee. That assignment, once the session opens in January 2027, is the first procedural milestone.

What does the bill borrow from the state's Bitcoin reserve law?

HB 815 does not start from zero. It pulls its definitions from Senate Bill 21, the 2025 law that created the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve in June 2025.

The borrowing is selective. The new bill omits several of SB 21's guardrails, including a market cap threshold and custody regulations. It also contains no rules on how losses would be handled.

The state itself already holds crypto exposure. The Texas Comptroller's office holds approximately $10 million in Bitcoin exposure through the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust as part of the state reserve. That position offers a reference point: the state chose an exchange-traded product rather than holding coins directly, and HB 815 as written does not tell cities which route to take.

Is this Texas lawmakers' first attempt?

No. In 2025, House Bill 4258 aimed to set broader provisions covering state funds. It did not pass. HB 815 is the scaled-back sequel: instead of a sweeping overhaul of state-treasury rules, it targets only cities and counties and caps exposure at a fixed dollar figure.

What are the operational consequences?

The most immediate stakeholders are city and county finance officers. If HB 815 passes, they gain a new investment tool — and a new set of unresolved questions.

Without custody or loss-handling rules in the bill, each local government would largely design its own safeguards. That patchwork creates uneven risk across the state. Taxpayers in different counties could end up with very different levels of protection, depending entirely on local policy drafting.

The comparison with the state-level approach is instructive. The Comptroller's roughly $10 million IBIT position sits inside a framework SB 21 built with explicit custody rules, while a county investing the same amount under HB 815 would operate with none.

What happens next?

Three milestones will shape the outcome. First, committee assignment once the session opens in January 2027. Second, whether amendments restore the custody and market cap provisions that SB 21 included but HB 815 left out. Third, the effective date itself: even in a best-case scenario for supporters, September 1, 2027 is the earliest any Texas city or county could legally begin buying.

By Tom Whitfield