New Hampshire Halts Pioneering State Bitcoin Bond Initiative

In the final step of the approval process, New Hampshire’s Executive Council voted 3–2 to reject the proposed bond project.

At the last minute, the state pulled back from what would have been a landmark initiative — the first state-backed, rated bond tied to Bitcoin — effectively canceling the effort.

The proposal had recently received a Ba2 rating from Moody’s, but the Executive Council, which oversees major financial decisions, ultimately blocked it, with a narrow majority citing concerns about the state’s financial credibility.

The bond was set to be issued through the Business Finance Authority of New Hampshire, supporting a private-sector deal of up to $100 million linked to Bitcoin mining and data center company CleanSpark. The council’s vote marked the final hurdle.

Keith Ammon, a longtime crypto supporter and majority floor leader in the New Hampshire House, criticized the decision on X, calling it “short-sighted” and urging officials to review the facts and revisit the vote in the future.

Ammon also noted that the decision may have been influenced by election-year dynamics, explaining that a single vote was enough to sway the outcome. He added that efforts to revive the proposal are not over.

New Hampshire has been at the forefront of state-level crypto policy, previously becoming the first U.S. state to establish a crypto reserve, ahead of similar initiatives at the federal level.