New Hampshire has just made U.S. financial history by approving a $100 million municipal bond backed by Bitcoin—an unprecedented move that turns the state into a real-world lab for blending digital assets with public financing. The goal is ambitious but clear: explore innovation while keeping taxpayers fully insulated from crypto’s volatility.
New Hampshire Bets on Bitcoin to Reinvent Public Finance
The bond was approved by the Business Finance Authority (BFA), which will serve as a conduit issuer. In simple terms, the BFA handles the issuance but doesn’t carry the burden of repayment, allowing the structure to operate without putting state finances on the hook. To secure the bond, borrowers must deposit 160% of its value in Bitcoin, creating a substantial cushion that helps protect investors from sudden market drops.
A built-in safety net activates if things get shaky. Should the collateral fall below 130%, an automatic liquidation system kicks in to safeguard bondholders before losses accumulate. All Bitcoin provided as collateral will be held by BitGo, a private custodian tasked with securing the assets. Any gains in the collateral, along with fees generated, flow into the Bitcoin Economic Development Fund, which supports tech and entrepreneurship projects across the state.
The architecture of the bond was developed by Wave Digital Assets together with Rosemawr Management, a firm known for municipal debt expertise. Their aim was to adapt familiar credit standards to the world of digital collateral. As Wave’s cofounder Les Borsai put it, this isn’t “just a transaction” — it’s a doorway into a new kind of debt market.
This move fits within a broader strategy New Hampshire has been building. In May 2025, Governor Kelly Ayotte signed the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act, allowing the state to invest up to 5% of public funds in large-cap digital assets — a category currently led almost exclusively by Bitcoin. Legislator Keith Ammon described the new bond as a “testing ground,” suggesting that if it works as intended, the model could evolve into direct bond issuances backed by state treasuries.
Ultimately, the project blends financial safeguards with a willingness to experiment, attempting to turn a notoriously volatile asset into a reliable tool for public finance. The next chapter will depend on how well the collateral system performs and how the Bitcoin Economic Development Fund develops — two factors that will determine whether this idea stays local or spreads to other states looking to modernize their funding tools.
