New Hampshire bitcoin-backed municipal bond canceled

The New Hampshire bitcoin-backed municipal bond canceled after the Executive Council voted 3–2 to end the proposed effort. The private-sector bond would have been issued by the Business Finance Authority of the State of New Hampshire and tied to Bitcoin mining and datacenter firm CleanSpark, and was authorized for up to $100 million. The council’s vote was the final step in approving the project.

The Business Finance Authority of the State of New Hampshire was designated as the issuer of the proposed bitcoin-backed municipal bond. The proposal described the instrument as a private-sector bond issued through the authority rather than traditional municipal borrowing. The bond was linked to CleanSpark, a private Bitcoin mining and datacenter company, which was the project partner named in the proposal. The planned issuance size was up to $100 million.

Moody’s Ratings assigned a Ba2 rating to the proposed bitcoin-backed municipal bond. The bond was a private-sector instrument planned to be issued by the Business Finance Authority of the State of New Hampshire and linked to Bitcoin mining and datacenter firm CleanSpark. Moody’s assignment of Ba2 was included in project filings and evaluations. This bond would have been the first rated bitcoin-backed bond issued under a state’s authority.

New Hampshire had previously positioned itself as a leader in cryptocurrency policy and established a crypto reserve last year. That policy background provided context for the state’s attempted issuance of a bitcoin-backed municipal bond. The proposed bond would have been issued by the Business Finance Authority of the State of New Hampshire and linked to private-sector firm CleanSpark. The bond effort was part of the project that the Executive Council later voted on.

The New Hampshire Executive Council voted 3-2 to cancel the proposed bitcoin-backed municipal bond, and that vote served as the final step in the project’s approval process. The council’s 3-2 decision ended the proposed issuance that had been under consideration by the Business Finance Authority of the State of New Hampshire and linked to CleanSpark. As the final formal action required for approval, the vote was decisive in determining the project’s status and rendered the proposal cancelled. The council’s action completed the approval process and left the project without authorization to proceed.

Keith Ammon criticized the Executive Council’s decision to cancel the proposed bitcoin-backed municipal bond, calling it “an extremely short-sighted decision” and urging the council to “gather all relevant facts and information and reconsider their vote at a future meeting.” Ammon also said, “We’re not giving up.”

Those remarks were presented as part of the critical reaction to the council’s 3-2 vote that canceled the project. The statements included a call for additional review and a reiteration of Ammon’s position on seeking further consideration of the proposal.