Texas: Crypto Task Force and Legislation

Task force: ActiveReserve: EnactedKiosks: None found

Task force or study body Confirmed

Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Advisory Committee · Active

• Created by: S.B. 21, 89th Legislature (2025); Comptroller named members May 28, 2026. SB 21 signing date differs by source (June 20, 2025 per CryptoSlate; June 22, 2025 per Bitcoin Magazine).
• Organized by: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts (Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock)
• Led by: No chair named. Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock is a member and convenes it (Comptroller release dated May 28, 2026). Note: the Comptroller's page header lists Don Huffines as Texas Comptroller while the release is issued by Acting Comptroller Hancock; the page does not explain this.
• Members: Five members: Kelly Hancock (Acting Comptroller); Laurie Dotter (chair, Employees Retirement System of Texas Investment Advisory Board); Jamie McAvity (founder/CEO, Cormint Data Systems); Carla Reyes (law professor, SMU); Gary A. Vecchiarelli, CPA (president and CFO, CleanSpark).
• Outputs and timeline: Advises on valuation, risk, asset management and custody. Statute requires a biennial reserve report by Dec. 31 of even-numbered years (first due Dec. 31, 2026). Comptroller issued an RFP for custody/liquidity services (responses due June 15, 2026, per CryptoSlate).

Sources: Comptroller press release, May 28, 2026, SB 21 enrolled bill analysis, Bitcoin Magazine coverage (secondary)

Texas Work Group on Blockchain Matters · Concluded

• Created by: 2021 state law (HB 1576, 87th Legislature; enrolled text on legislature site; Route Fifty confirms a 2021 law formed it). Statute set abolition for June 30, 2023 per the committee-substitute analysis.
• Organized by: Appointed by the Governor, Lt. Governor and House Speaker (Lt. Gov. Patrick announced his appointees Oct. 29, 2021).
• Led by: Carla Reyes, Assistant Professor of Law, SMU Dedman School of Law (per 2022 sources).
• Members: 16 members: Governor's appointees (Reyes, William Henning, Jennifer Buaas, Dan Teczar); Lt. Gov.'s (Sen. Angela Paxton, Claire Barber, Christopher Calicott, Patrick Hatfield, Jason Kelley, Robert Villasenor); Speaker's (Rep. Tan Parker, Lee Bratcher, Cesare Fracassi, Natalie Smolenski, Peter Vogel, Grant Weston). Source: SMU Law, 2022.
• Outputs and timeline: 84-page legislative report and master plan, Nov. 15, 2022 (SMU). Recommendations include UCC updates for new technologies, DAO law changes, county land-records blockchain pilots and a lower tax burden on power for bitcoin mining/flexible loads. A copy is hosted on data.austintexas.gov with a listed issue date of July 18, 2023.

Sources: SMU Law - 2022 report release, Lt. Gov. Patrick appointments, Oct. 29, 2021, Route Fifty, Dec. 2022, HB 1576 enrolled text (87R), HB 1576 committee substitute analysis, Report PDF (Data.gov listing)

Also noted: 2026 interim hearings on crypto kiosks (see kiosks). Texas Blockchain Council is a private trade group, not a state body.

Bitcoin or digital asset reserve law Confirmed

S.B. 21 (2025, Sen. Schwertner) creates the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, a special fund outside the treasury managed by the Comptroller, able to hold bitcoin and other crypto with a 24-month average market cap of at least $500 billion; a five-member advisory committee advises the Comptroller and a biennial report is due Dec. 31 of even years. A reported ~$5 million IBIT purchase on Nov. 20, 2025 (part of a $10 million allocation) was not officially confirmed in the source we read.

Sources: SB 21 enrolled bill analysis, SB 21 enrolled text, CryptoSlate SB 21 profile (secondary), The Block - reported IBIT purchase, Nov. 25, 2025 (secondary)

Licensing Confirmed

Under the Texas Money Services Act (Finance Code ch. 151), the Department of Banking's Supervisory Memorandum 1037 (rev. April 1, 2019) says crypto-for-fiat exchange is not currency exchange and holding/transferring cryptocurrency alone is not money transmission, but sovereign-backed stablecoins with a redemption right may be money transmission; bitcoin ATMs routed through third-party exchanges are usually money transmission. Memo-based policy, not a dedicated crypto license; check for later updates.

Sources: Texas Dept. of Banking Supervisory Memorandum 1037

Crypto kiosks (ATMs) Reported

No Texas kiosk law as of July 2026. SB 1705 (2025) would have required kiosk registration with the Department of Banking; it passed the Senate May 15, 2025 and died in the House. In May-June 2026 House and Senate committees held kiosk hearings, and legislators said they would seek a ban or regulation in the session starting January 2027; San Antonio passed a local fraud-warning ordinance in June 2026 (KSAT/TPR, secondary).

Sources: KSAT, July 8, 2026 (secondary), CryptoSlate - SB 1705 (secondary), SB 1705 engrossed text, Decrypt - Texas kiosk losses, hearing (secondary)

Industry groups (non-governmental)

• Texas Blockchain Council (NABA member): Industry group and a founding NABA member; its president, Lee Bratcher, is also a NABA board member per the launch report.

Sources: NABA founding members (relayed report of the January 2025 launch)

Other 2025 to 2026 actions

• 2025-06: S.B. 21 establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve enacted (signing date June 20 vs June 22, 2025 depending on source).
• 2025-11-20: Reported first reserve allocation of about $5 million in BlackRock's IBIT; The Block noted state officials had not confirmed it (reported only).
• 2026-05-28: Acting Comptroller Hancock named the advisory committee and announced a custody/liquidity RFP.

Sources: SB 21 enrolled bill analysis, The Block, Nov. 25, 2025, Comptroller press release

Source notes: Reserve purchase and RFP outcome reflect sources through mid-2026; check for updates. Texas Dept. of Banking memo dates to 2019. Acting Comptroller vs. Comptroller title discrepancy on the Comptroller site. Work Group report date: 2022 per SMU vs July 18, 2023 on the Data.gov listing. This item had not received a full follow-up search at the time of review.