The State of Texas is now a bitcoin holder. On November 20, 2025, Texas made its first purchase for its new Strategic Bitcoin Reserve: $5 million through BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust, known by its ticker IBIT, at a time when bitcoin traded around $87,000.
For plenty of people in Irving, Dallas and across the Metroplex, that headline raised an obvious question: if the state is buying, should I? That is a personal decision, and this article will not make it for you.
What it can do is explain what the state actually did, and how to stay safe if you decide to buy crypto directly from another person.
What the state actually did
Senate Bill 21, signed on June 22, 2025, created the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. The first purchase came about five months later.
Notice how the state bought. It did not meet a stranger in a parking lot or wire money to an online seller; it bought shares of an exchange-traded fund through regular financial channels.
Individual Texans have more choices: exchanges, brokerage accounts that offer bitcoin funds, crypto kiosks, and buying directly from another person. Each route comes with different costs and different risks.
The scam numbers behind the headlines
Crypto's rising profile has been good news for fraudsters. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center counted 181,565 cryptocurrency-related complaints in 2025 and about $11.4 billion in crypto-related losses, up 22% on 2024.
Two figures stand out for families. People aged 60 and older accounted for $4.4 billion of those losses, and scams involving crypto ATMs and kiosks cost victims $389 million.
A common kiosk scam starts with a phone call or pop-up from someone claiming to be a bank, a government agency or tech support. The victim is told to withdraw cash and feed it into a crypto machine to "protect" it, and no real bank or agency will ever ask for that.
If you are meeting someone in person
Buying crypto for cash from a local seller combines two risks: carrying cash and trusting a stranger. A few habits lower both.
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Meet in a busy public place during daylight, never at a home address.
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Ask about a safe exchange zone. Many police departments set aside lobbies or monitored parking areas for online marketplace sales. Call your local department's non-emergency line to ask whether one is available near you.
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Bring a friend and tell someone else where you are going and when you expect to be back.
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Agree in advance who goes first. As the buyer, check that the coins have landed in your own wallet app, with confirmations, before cash changes hands. If the seller refuses, walk away.
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Leave at the first sign of pressure. A seller who rushes you, changes the price at the last minute or asks you to scan an unfamiliar QR code is giving you a reason to go.
Escrow as an alternative to the parking lot
The core problem in a face-to-face crypto deal is that someone has to go first. Online peer-to-peer marketplaces with smart-contract escrow try to solve that without anyone carrying an envelope of cash.
Non-custodial platforms, Senpero among them, work like this. When a trade opens, the seller's crypto is locked in an escrow contract on the blockchain; the buyer pays by the agreed method, often a bank transfer; and the seller releases the coins once the payment has arrived.
If something goes wrong, the platform's dispute process steps in. Meanwhile, buyers keep their own wallet, and sellers set their own rates, limits and accepted payment methods.
If you would rather buy crypto peer-to-peer with escrow than meet in person, a few rules still apply. Pay only from an account in your own name, keep your receipt, and never agree to finish a deal outside the platform.
Taxes still apply, even in Texas
Texas has no state income tax, but federal rules still reach you. The IRS treats crypto as property, so selling or swapping it can trigger capital gains.
Custodial brokers began reporting crypto sales on the new Form 1099-DA for transactions from January 1, 2025. A trade made directly from your own wallet may not appear on a broker form, which puts the record keeping on you.
For every purchase, note the date, the amount, the price paid and any fees. Do the same when you sell, because the gain or loss is measured from what you originally paid.
Your future self, and your tax preparer, will thank you.
If you or a parent has been targeted
Speed matters, because crypto transfers cannot be reversed once they are confirmed. Stop sending money at once, even if the caller insists that one more payment will fix everything.
Call your bank or card issuer right away, since a bank payment may still be stoppable even when the crypto is gone. Save every wallet address, transaction ID, phone number and message.
Then file reports with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center and your local police. Be wary of anyone who contacts you afterward promising to recover the money for an upfront fee, because that is often a second scam aimed at the same victim.
A North Texas checklist before you buy
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Decide your amount in advance and do not let anyone talk you above it.
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Set up your own wallet and store the recovery phrase offline.
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Never pay anyone in crypto, gift cards or kiosk deposits because a caller told you to.
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For cash deals, use a public place or a police safe exchange zone, and bring a friend.
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For online deals, use escrow and keep every step on the platform.
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Save your records for the IRS.
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If you are targeted, report it to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center and to your local police department.
Texas made its bitcoin decision in public, with lawmakers, a fund manager and a paper trail. Any purchase you make deserves the same care, just on a smaller scale.