Texas Names Bitcoin Reserve Advisory Committee as State Eyes Direct Bitcoin Custody
Texas formed a five-member advisory committee for its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and is seeking a custodian to move from ETF exposure to direct BTC holdings.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
Texas has set up a five-member advisory committee to guide its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and issued a request for a qualified crypto custodian. The state says it wants to shift from its current ETF-based exposure into directly custodied bitcoin within 60 days of contract execution.
Texas is setting up a small team to help manage a stash of bitcoin it wants to hold more directly. Right now, the state only has a bit of exposure through a fund, like owning a toy through a store receipt instead of keeping it at home.
The new team has people with money, law, mining, and crypto experience. Their job is to help Texas keep the bitcoin safe and decide how to handle it carefully.
The big idea is simple: Texas wants to move from “we own a piece of a bitcoin fund” to “we hold the bitcoin ourselves.”
Analysis
Texas moves from exposure to custody
Texas Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock announced the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Advisory Committee, a five-member group meant to help oversee the state’s bitcoin reserve. The committee was created under Senate Bill 21, which passed the 89th Texas Legislature and was signed into law on June 22, 2025. Hancock said the work needs to be handled with “transparency, security and strong financial controls.”
The committee includes Hancock, Laurie Dotter of the Employees Retirement System of Texas investment advisory board, bitcoin miner Jamie McAvity of Cormint Data Systems, legal scholar Carla Reyes of Southern Methodist University, and Gary A. Vecchiarelli of CleanSpark. The article frames the group as a mix of investment, legal, mining, and digital asset governance experience.
Custody is the bigger shift
The comptroller’s office also issued a request for proposals seeking a qualified crypto custodian. The reserve currently has about $10 million in exposure through the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), and the requested services include secure custody, liquidity, and asset management. According to the article, Texas plans to move from ETF-based exposure to directly custodied bitcoin within 60 days after a contract is executed.
That matters because direct custody changes the state’s relationship to the asset. Instead of relying on a fund wrapper, Texas would hold bitcoin itself and manage the operational and security responsibilities that come with that choice. The story presents this as part of a broader push toward full ownership and institutional-grade security, with room to support more crypto assets over time.
Bigger policy backdrop
The piece also places Texas in the context of a wider U.S. Bitcoin reserve effort. It says President Trump signed an executive order on March 6, 2025 directing the Treasury to build a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve from forfeited BTC, and that legislation in Congress would make such a reserve permanent. The article does not claim those federal efforts are complete; it describes them as ongoing and still facing legal and legislative hurdles.
Key points
- Texas formed a five-member advisory committee for its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
- The reserve was created under Senate Bill 21, signed into law on June 22, 2025.
- Texas currently has about $10 million of bitcoin exposure through IBIT.
- The state is seeking a qualified custodian to support direct bitcoin custody.
- The article says Texas intends to transition to directly custodied bitcoin within 60 days after contract execution.
