New Hampshire’s bitcoin-backed bond proposal involves the issuance of conduit bonds, with the state Business Finance Authority BFA serving as the facilitating “conduit” between borrowers and bondholders.
Last November, the N.H. Business Finance Authority issued a dramatic press release: Its trustees approved what it called “a groundbreaking financing structure that will make New Hampshire the first state in the world to issue a municipal bond backed by Bitcoin.”
The proposal is part of a larger effort to normalize the use of cryptocurrency in traditional finance, but now, six months after the autumn announcement, it has yet to come before Gov. Kelly Ayotte and the Executive Council for approval, and Moody’s Investors Service has assigned it a below-investment grade rating.
Under the proposal, bitcoin will be used as collateral. On March 31, rating agency Moody’s assigned a Ba2 provisional rating to the bond. Per Moody’s methodology, “obligations rated Ba are judged to have speculative elements and are subject to substantial credit risk.” They are familiarly referred to as “junk bonds.”
businessnhmagazine.com
Author Peter Miller, Granite State News Collaborative
Published Monday May 18, 2026