Precious Crypto

Two new bills in the Texas House of Representatives—House Bills 1049 and 1056—would establish a state-backed cryptocurrency that is fully redeemable in precious metals. Gold and silver currently stored in the Texas Bullion Depository would back this proposed digital currency. According to the legislation, “each unit of the digital currency issued represents a particular fraction of a troy ounce of gold held in trust.” If the bills pass, Texas would be the first U.S. state to have a cryptocurrency directly tied to precious metals.

The novel precious-metal-backed crypto has the potential to affect numismatics in several ways. The currency could possibly become a collectible and impact current American Eagle bullion coins and other collectable coins.