PANews reported on June 24 that according to CoinDesk, Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently signed Senate Bill 21, making the state the first state in the United States to establish a publicly funded Bitcoin reserve. The state will allocate $10 million to purchase Bitcoin, becoming the first state in the United States to actually inject capital (rather than just authorize) to establish a cryptocurrency reserve. Lee Bratcher, chairman of the Texas Blockchain Committee, said that although this investment only accounts for 0.0004% of the state budget, it sends an important signal that Texas recognizes the future of digital finance. The supporting bill HB 4488 also took effect at the same time, prohibiting the transfer of Bitcoin reserve funds to the state's regular fiscal revenue.