New Hampshire to Issue $100M Bitcoin-Backed Bond With Speculative Moody’s Rating

New Hampshire’s Business Finance Authority will issue $100 million of Bitcoin-collateralized bonds, the first known U.S. public-authority debt fully backed by BTC. Moody’s assigned a speculative Ba2 rating, effectively excluding most traditional municipal buyers and pushing the likely investor base toward high-yield muni funds, hedge funds, and crypto-native allocators. The bonds come in two series maturing in 2029, are limited-recourse (payable only from BTC collateral), and are tied to an underlying CleanSpark-linked borrower with BitGo as custodian and liquidation agent. The structure starts with a 1.60x coverage ratio and mandates full redemption if collateral falls to 1.40x; Moody’s used a 72.06% advance rate based on a two-day liquidation window. Market impact: it protects taxpayers by avoiding a state backstop but raises liquidity and volatility risks, creates a niche market for crypto-backed public debt, and may set a precedent for similar structures while keeping many institutional muni buyers sidelined.