Texas Buys the Bitcoin Dip, Investing $5M Into BlackRock’s IBIT ETF

• Texas purchased $5M worth of BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, IBIT
• Another $5M is allocated for direct, self-custodied Bitcoin
• The move signals accelerating state-level Bitcoin adoption in the U.S.
• Texas previously approved a strategic BTC reserve managed by the state
• Only crypto assets with a $500B+ market cap qualify for the reserve
• Lawmakers say Ether could be added if it maintains a high market cap
• Wisconsin previously bought nearly $100M of IBIT in 2024
• IBIT is down ~10% YTD despite rising institutional and government interest

The state of Texas has taken a major step toward strengthening its Bitcoin exposure, purchasing $5 million worth of BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, known as IBIT. The move was completed on Nov. 20 and publicly highlighted by Texas Blockchain Council president Lee Bratcher, who said the acquisition represents the first phase of a broader plan to bring Bitcoin directly into the state’s treasury.

According to Bratcher, Texas has allocated a total of $10 million from general revenue for Bitcoin-related investments. While the state ultimately intends to self-custody BTC, the necessary infrastructure is still being finalized. As a result, the initial $5 million deployment was executed through BlackRock’s IBIT ETF. The remaining funds are expected to be invested directly into Bitcoin once the self-custody mechanism is operational.

The decision marks a significant shift in institutional attitudes toward Bitcoin. Commenting on the development, Pierre Rochard, CEO of The Bitcoin Bond Company, said that perceptions around government involvement in Bitcoin have dramatically evolved in just a few years. He noted that fears of governments banning Bitcoin have given way to governments acquiring it as part of their financial strategy, framing the movement as part of an ongoing “hyperbitcoinization” trend.

It remains unclear whether Texas’s recent IBIT purchase is directly connected to the state’s initiative to create a formal strategic Bitcoin reserve. In June, Governor Gregg Abbott approved legislation establishing a state-managed Bitcoin fund designed to hold BTC as a long-term treasury asset. According to the bill’s guidelines, only cryptocurrencies with a market capitalization above $500 billion may be included in the reserve — a threshold Bitcoin meets, but BlackRock’s IBIT ETF does not.

Even so, the move is widely viewed as a meaningful step toward Texas’s long-term Bitcoin strategy. State lawmakers are also considering expanding the reserve to include other major cryptocurrencies. Senator Charles Schwertner, one of the authors behind the Bitcoin reserve bill, said that Ether could be added if it maintains a market cap above $500 billion for at least 24 months. He described the idea as “reasonable and prudent” should ETH demonstrate sustained growth.

Texas is not the first U.S. state to purchase BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF. In 2024, public filings revealed that Wisconsin’s investment board acquired nearly $100 million worth of IBIT shares, making it one of the earliest government-level adopters of the spot Bitcoin ETF.

Industry analysts noted that Texas is now joining prominent institutional buyers of IBIT. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas pointed out that Texas now sits alongside Harvard and Abu Dhabi as recent purchasers of the fund, remarking on the unusual combination of adopters for an ETF that has existed for less than two years.

Despite growing interest, BlackRock’s IBIT has struggled in recent months and is down around 10% year-to-date. At the time of writing, the ETF trades at $49.56 and is showing a modest 0.22% gain in after-hours activity.

Final Thought

Texas’s latest Bitcoin investment highlights a growing trend of state-level adoption in the U.S., reinforcing Bitcoin’s role as a strategic asset within public financial planning. With additional self-custodied BTC purchases on the way and potential future inclusion of Ether, Texas could become a leading example of government-driven crypto adoption over the next decade.