State employees’ pensions in North Carolina won’t be invested in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency — at least, not yet.

A new bill would allow the State Treasurer to put potentially billions of dollars from the State Pension Plan and other government accounts into crypto. But House Bill 92 was put on hold Tuesday by the House Commerce Committee, as lawmakers expressed skepticism about the wisdom of the proposal.

Supporters say the pension plan could make substantial gains by investing in cryptocurrency and betting that the market will keep rising.

Critics, including the State Employees Association of North Carolina, say politicians shouldn’t gamble with the pension funds that state workers are expecting once they retire.

The bill would allow a host of state investment funds, including the pension plan and the Highway Trust Fund, to put as much as 10% of their money into crypto. The multi-billion-dollar pension plan is by far the biggest on the list and has drawn the most attention.

Many state government jobs pay less than similar jobs in the private sector, but the state uses the promise of a pension upon retirement as a key recruiting tool to hire and keep workers. Flint Benson, a former state prison worker who’s now a lobbyist for SEANC, said the legislature would be making a mistake to put people’s pensions into risky investments.

“Bitcoin has been a roller coaster at best, and state employees and retirees do not like the conversation about investing in this highly volatile currency,” Benson told Tuesday’s committee.

Two years ago, one Bitcoin was worth about $20,000. On Tuesday, it was trading at more than four times that much, above $88,000. But at the same time, it was trading at more than $100,000 last month and has taken a sharp dive in recent weeks. Bitcoin isn’t the only cryptocurrency on the market, but it’s the most well-known and the biggest.

Supporters of the proposal say the bill is written to avoid risk as much as possible by focusing on exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, instead of single currencies like Bitcoin. Rep. Stephen Ross, R-Alamance, dismissed Benson’s concerns as “scare tactics” and misinformation.

But while that argument failed to win over the committee Tuesday, the bill wasn’t fully voted down. Rather, lawmakers delayed a vote indefinitely, to give themselves more time to do research into cryptocurrency — and to hear from State Treasurer Brad Briner, a Republican who has been in office for two months, about how he would handle the new investing power this bill would give him.

Rep. Carla Cunningham, D-Mecklenburg, referenced Briner’s lack of experience on the job, the complicated nature of cryptocurrency and broader economic headwinds as just some of the reasons to be hesitant.

“People can’t go buy a dozen eggs right now, and people that are state employees are not getting the best benefits,” she said. “So maybe we need to just think about it. I want to understand it, but I guarantee you — 90% of us in this room don’t understand it.”

‘Got to be careful’

Although many bills at the legislature break down along partisan lines, this bill has instead broken down largely along generational lines.

Younger lawmakers — including 37-year-old House Speaker Destin Hall — largely back the changes being proposed. Many older lawmakers remain more skeptical.

“We are seeing a rapid shift towards embracing blockchain technology and digital assets across the United States,” Hall said in February when he originally sponsored the bill. “Investing in digital assets like Bitcoin not only has the potential to generate positive yields for our state investment fund but also positions North Carolina as a leader in technological adoption and innovation.”

“I’m fully in favor of the bill,” added Rep. Jake Johnson, a 31-year-old Polk County Republican, during Tuesday’s meeting.

Supporters like them were outvoted in the end.

Rep. John Blust, a 70-year-old Guilford County Republican, said he can’t tell whether cryptocurrency is a scam or a great investment. But either way, he wasn’t quite ready to put billions of dollars of state spending on the line without more solid information.

“Sometimes I wonder if I’m the biggest fool in the world for not jumping in, because it seems to keep going up,” Blust said. “But I don’t want to put money into something I don’t have any idea how it works. … You’ve got to be careful, especially with other people’s money that they’re counting on.”

Rep. Julia Howard, an 80-year-old Davie County Republican, agreed.

“I don’t understand it as clearly as I wish I did to make a good decision,” she said, recommending that Briner himself come address the committee, rather than the lobbyist his office sent Tuesday to voice support for the bill.